A message in a bottle
In an ocean swirled with trash
Would there be someone to read it
If the ecosystem crashed?

I could write that I was sorry
That I left the earth a mess:
And promise not to foul it
Any more than all the rest.

I could swear that this one bottle
Was the last I’d ever toss,
That next time I’d recycle –
No more carbon would be lost.

I could write a solemn promise
Not to waste another drop,
Not to drive a big gas-guzzler,
That my power use would drop.

Or I could re-use the bottle
Find new purpose for the cork,
And let my message to the future
Be the way I live and work.

JIM BURKLO
Website: JIMBURKLO.COM Weblog: MUSINGS Follow me on twitter: @jtburklo
See a video interview about my new novel, SOULJOURN
See the GUIDE to my articles and books
Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California