Silken With Age: A Tribute To A Survivor

On a quiet stretch of beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts, I found a sea-glass bottle nestled in the sand — pale, luminous, and incomplete. Its bottom was broken, yet it lay there with a kind of grace, as if the sea had returned it not in shame, but in tribute. I was astonished. A full-bodied form, almost whole, bearing the visible record of a long, unseen journey. I wondered where it had come from — who once held it, what waters bore it, how many tides it had outlived. I knew I would never know the answers. And strangely, that unknowing felt like a gift.

And so I let the questions go. I did not need the names of ports or the decade of its making. What moved me most was not what the bottle had lost, but what it had become, and the evidence of its endurance. Something fractured, yes, but also softened, silken with age, light-catching. It had made it back to shore in this altered state — not perfect, but powerful. Its story could never be read fully, yet its presence was enough. I didn't need its origin to honor its arrival. The ocean had sent it back, not as evidence of what it once was, but as proof that even broken things endure, and sometimes, they arrive more beautiful for it.

 I left it there in the light for a while, honoring its journey not with possession, but with awe. There is something holy in recognizing a survivor, even when you do not know what it survived.

What Survives the Sea

The bottle came ashore
not whole — but radiant,
its bottom torn away,
yet still it gleamed
like something faithful to return.

I held it in my gaze,
not as a relic,
but as a witness —
to all that breaks
and still belongs.

It had been lost,
and in that long forgetting
learned the art
of softening
without apology.

Some things do not end —
they transform.
Sharpness dulls.
Wounds shine.
The sea teaches this, without a word.

And I, too,
stand broken in places —
yet sunlit,
grateful,
and never less than whole.

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12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in

12in x 9in
16in x 12in
20in x 15in
24in x 18in