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.
