Page 5 (1/2)

Gasps chorus around us

“Holy shit”

“I fuckin’ told you, Bo!”

The one in the stairwell spreads his ar as he blocks me

“That’s soh, before you get to pass”

He holds a slip of paper out, and the ather around

“Horaphs…”

I fake a grin and take the paper Six thousandouted

Finley

I clutch the bottle toe With my eyes shut, I picture its trajectory as it plu dizzy as birds caw above my head, and far below me, waves break on the rocks

Vloeiende Trane, these cliffs are called; it hest peak is two hundred ed waves Midway between the cliff-top and the sea, water pours out of the rock in three long streams that look like tears from further out

Standing atop Vloeiende Trane, the white caps look no bigger than a fingernail, the ocean’s swirling cauldron just a gentle dappling of greens and blues

Deceptive

I wipe my eyes and fold my arms over my chest I won’t throw another bottle, I proe I search the waves for a flash of glass, for soive

That’s the point, though, isn’t it? Throwing letter-stuffed bottles into the void It’s like a prayer That’s its ic Still, it hurts to know no one will ever read e”