Marooned

So pretend you’re marooned

on a deserted island

plenty of fish and fruits to keep you fed

shelter and warmth, nothing around

to harm you and you tossed your message-

in-a-bottle out beyond the waves

so it’s on its way to bringing a rescue party

so all you need do is wait, and wait.

And remind yourself that

it could be worse:

you could be trapped with the Donner party

in some frozen valley

in the Sierra Nevadas

or lost in a cave without any light

or trapped under a collapsed building

or stuck in the Amazon jungle surrounded

by angry natives

or marooned on Mars or the Moon

or imprisoned on Devil’s Island with no hope

of escaping into any future at all.

Yes it could be worse, it can always be worse.