Writers’ Weir: Coastal Bindamas

Published 9:01 am Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Aqua green with embossed kanji

Beachcomber finds and nautical decor

Collector items of the commercial maritime

Deep sea fishing floats of ancient history

Etched by sand, worn, and corroded

Freeblown glass by artisans and set adrift

Gill-netters for cod, long-liners for tuna

Hand labor operations and industry

Inside hollow, thick, walls filled with air

Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan

Knife carvings shown by their wooden molds

Less expensive than buoys

Millions strung on miles of nets

Nautical, floating with ocean flotsam and jetsam

Old, recycled sake wine with air bubble markings

Prized, rare, and washed up with the driftwood

Quietly sea-faring for decades, then centuries

Rough, frosted and found in many colors and shades

Storms and westerly winds bring them to shore

Tangerine or grapefruit-size spheres

Ultimately replaced with styrofoam or plastic

Venturers of the North Pacific waters

Worn net ropes still attached from a long journey

Xerarchs living amphibious lives

Years of surf action atop the ocean swells

Zigzagging, caught in circular currants and ice packs

*“Bindamas” are glass floats in Japanese.

Amy enjoys beachcombing for treasures in Southeast Alaska. She has a few of these glass floats in her house for decor and wanted to share the historic value of these beautiful glass floats through a poem that reaches others who are also fond of them.