As a starving, weather-beaten man, burned brown by the sun until his face turns leather, has but one hope for survival. He has no idea if anyone will find it, or even speak his language. His is nothing but a fool’s hope, but he must try nonetheless.

Those who aimlessly wander and strive against all odds often choose a tattoo design for themselves depicting a message in a bottle.

There is something special about a message that floats over leagues of sea, its delivery uncertain. So suspicious was she of bottled messages, Queen Elizabeth created a royal post of “Uncorker of Ocean Bottles,” believing that each bottle that reached English soil was a message to domestic spies. During her reign, opening a bottle containing a message without royal permission was punishable by death.

The ocean is vast, larger than any insignificant could ever hope to imagine. And it is powerful too. The currents of the ocean bring flotsam and jetsam, trash and jewelry over leagues and leagues before they finally make it to shore. It may take over a century for launched bottles to make it to shore again. They may travel over 100 miles per day and cover 4,000 to 6,000 miles, according to ocean drift experts.

This is nothing if not poetic. You, yourself, may be a drifting bottle, wandering the world at will, waiting for the right person to whom you may finally deliver your message.