Poem: "The Bones of Chihuly"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem is spillover from the March 4, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from librarygeek. It has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. This poem belongs to the Big One and Shiv threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains intense topics that may distress some readers, especially glass artists and fans of glass art. Highlight to read the more detailed warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes upset friends, crying man, emotional first aid, Shiv's awkward but effective crisis response, Chihuly Garden and Glass destroyed by earthquake, salvage operations, insufficient organization causing emotional upset, reference to clumsiness, sorting broken glass that used to be art, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your taste and headspace before deciding if this is something you want to read.


"The Bones of Chihuly"

[Saturday, July 2, 2016]

Shiv was sorting a new batch
of arts and crafts supplies
into his workbench when
his smartphone rang.

He propped the phone
between his chin and
shoulder so he could
keep working. "Yeah,
what?" he answered.

"Can I come over?"
Pavo said, sounding
upset. "I just really need
to be around another artist
who understands how
shitty the world can be."

Well, that couldn't be good.

"I get that," Shiv said as he
put down the supplies to give
all his attention to the call.
"I'll help out however I can."

"Thanks," Pavo said, sniffling.
"I really appreciate this."

"Hell, are you crying?"
Shiv said, alarmed.

Pavo sniffled again.

"I'm in my studio at
Hansen Hall, you've
been here, so just jump
right in," Shiv invited. "No
need to walk the halls like
that and attract attention."

He loved the place, he really
did, but it wasn't the kind of
building you could walk through
looking wrecked and not get
stopped by six different people
asking you what was wrong
and how they could help.

He should probably put
a teleport beacon in here
like he had in his apartment
above Blues Moon, so friends
could drop in more easily.

"Thanks," Pavo said thickly.
"Tapping out, see you soon."

Shiv shoved his craft stuff
into storage tubs just so he
could get it out of the way.

Deal with that later, deal with
the melting-down teleporter now.

Pavo showed up dusty to the knees,
wearing heavy work boots under
jeans and a T-shirt with paint on it.

He was hugging himself and
looked absolutely miserable.

"Hey, come here," said Shiv.
"You can anchor on me
if you need to, I've done it
for Zipper a few times."

Pavo heaved a sigh
and leaned against him.

It was one thing that Shiv
liked about the teleporter:
Pavo wasn't near as grabby
as most other people were.

He just leaned in for a bit
before taking a step back.

"So what's the problem?"
Shiv asked Pavo. "You
wanna talk about it, or
should I just ignore it?"

"A bunch of us have
been volunteering for
earthquake assistance,"
said Pavo. "Even though
most teleporters won't go
into hot zones, we can
still help in cooler ones."

"Makes sense," said Shiv.
"I done some work out west
myself, making tools for folks
to do some campfire cooking."

"Yeah, it's helping," said Pavo.
"It's just hard. I feel like I can't
go on, like by rights we shouldn't
even be here, but we are. I'm not
a hero like in the stories, I'm just
an ordinary guy. I want to matter,
but I don't know what to hold onto."

Shiv knew this conversation, and
he supplied the necessary lines.

"I know, it's all wrong," he said.
"Still we have to hold onto hope.
There's some good in this world,
and it's worth fighting for."

"Yeah, it is," Pavo agreed.
"Some of us have been hauling
rubble or salvage to clear away
landscapes. Today I was out at
Chihuly Garden and Glass. All of
that gorgeous art, just ... gone.
Splinters. My entire team has
been falling apart over that."

"So? It's glass," Shiv said.
"It's infinitely recyclable."

"What?" said Pavo. "I don't
do very much with glass, other
than occasional beads in paint
or other random embellishments."

"Okay, so when you work with glass,
you break a lot of shit," said Shiv. "It
doesn't matter, because you can just
shove it back in the kiln and remelt it.
If you don't have a kiln, you can still use
fragments in a mosaic, or tumble them."

"Really?" Pavo said, sounding intrigued.
"I never thought about that, beyond
seeing some bins for glass recycling."

"Yep," said Shiv. "The true strength
of a glassblower lies in their ability
to mend broken pieces. Sometimes,
the most beautiful creations are
born from shattered dreams."

"That's encouraging," said Pavo.
"I don't think I've seen anyone
doing that sort of thing, though."

"Pull up some couch," Shiv said,
waving at his patchwork seat. "I'll
grab my scrap bucket and a few of
my recent projects to show you."

"Yeah, okay," Pavo said as he
flopped down. "I am interested
in seeing more of your work."

Shiv showed him the scraps
first. "I save everything and
reuse it because art glass has
such pretty colors and textures,"
he said. "These bits run about
a quarter-inch to an inch, so they
work for mosaics or suncatchers."

His superpower stirred the shards,
making them chime and sparkle.

"That lamp over there is one that
I made in June after we cleared out
the storage building," said Shiv. "I
found a base and fixed it up, then
pieced together the lampshade. It's
clunky, but it throws colored shadows."

"I like it," said Pavo. "You're not
the type for a fussy lampshade."

Shiv laughed. "So true," he said.
"I did a workshop on cutting glass
in straight lines and piecing that
together. Then I used the scraps
to make this rainbow suncatcher."

It was a tall rectangle that went
from red at the top to purple at
the bottom, plus a few clear bits
playing peekaboo in between.

"Wow," said Pavo. "That design
reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright."

Shiv blinked. He didn't have all of
the art history crap that other folks did
around here, but he knew that name.

"Uh, thanks," he said. "After I took
the workshop on straight cutting, I
did the next one on curves. I used
those scraps to make a calico cat."

It had all colors, including a piece
of white glass with watercolor flowers.

"That is adorable," Pavo said, tracing
the curve of the tail. "Now I want one."

"Keep it if you like it," said Shiv. "I
can always make another for myself."

"Thank you," said Pavo. "I guess
broken glass is good for something."

"So why not bring some of it here?"
said Shiv. "It's art glass, it's just
knocked out of place for now.
We can turn it back into art."

"I can do that," Pavo said
as he clambered to his feet.

"Oh hell no," Shiv said. "I been
around Molly enough to know
you got emotional contusions,
if not worse. You are done with
that site for today, so sit your ass
back on my couch and just let
someone else do the hauling now."

Pavo stared at him, but sat down
without protest, so that was fine.

"Will you be okay here for
a few minutes?" Shiv asked.
"I need to go ask someone
about setting up a workshop
and getting the glass delivered."

"Yeah, it's nice and peaceful
here," said Pavo. "I like it."

"Great, you sit tight and I'll
take care of arrangements,"
said Shiv. "Then I'll find
some more artists for you."

Shiv left Pavo with a bottle
of juice and a box of fudge,
in case he hadn't refueled yet,
then trotted down to the office.

At the reception desk he said,
"I need to talk with Sudarshina
or someone else who can get me
a good-sized work space quickly."

The receptionist looked at Shiv
and waved him through. "She's
in her office, just go right back."

The door to the manager's office
stood open, so Shiv just tapped on
the frame and said, "I need space
for an emergency art workshop."

Sudarshina raised her eyebrows.
"I'm listening," she said. "What's
the emergency, and what kind
of work space do you need?"

"Some idiot sent a bunch of
cold-zone-only teleporters
to salvage smashed art glass
from Chihuly Glass and Garden.
So now they're getting upset and
melting down," Shiv explained.

"That's not good," she agreed.
"Lay out your plan for me."

"I want to invite the teleporters
to bring the salvaged glass here,
since it's infinitely recyclable, but
we need somewhere to sort it and
artists to put it back into shape,"
Shiv went on. "I'm thinking of
a room with a smooth floor and
maybe a sink, tables and chairs..."

"There are multipurpose workrooms
and classrooms across the hall from
the dedicated studios," said Sudarshina.
"Let me see what's available for today."

It didn't take long for her to find him
an empty room to use for the workshop.

"Thanks," Shiv said. "Now I can contact
the teleporters to bring stuff here. Is it
okay if they land in that room, instead of
outside? I can get a temporary beacon."

"For the duration of your workshop, yes,"
Sudarshina agreed. "Would you like me
to announce it to our members here?"

"Yes please," Shiv said. "Just say
something about it's a workshop for
recycling or upcycling salvaged glass
from Chihuly Garden and Glass. It
doesn't matter what kind of crafts
people do, anything glass is fine."

"I'll get right on that," she said.
"If you need to contact other folks,
grab any open privacy pod here.
Just touch the stripes to opaque
the smart glass for more cover."

"Great, I'll do that," said Shiv.
"I left Pavo in my studio and this
is ... maybe not a conversation
that he would want to listen to."

He ducked out and found a pod
about the size of a closet, with
a couple chairs and a countertop.
He quickly figured out what kind
of touch would opaque all the glass.

Shiv took a minute to calm himself,
then called the Teleport number for
"urgent but not emergency" stuff.

"Teleport Urgent Dispatch, how
may I help you?" a woman replied.

"This is Shiv out of Omaha with
the Ebonies and Ivories --" he said.

"Fudge Dealer!" she crowed.

"Yeah, that too," said Shiv.
"The teleport team salvaging
Chihuly Garden and Glass is
having problems I can help with."

"What kind of problems?" she said,
suddenly all business again.

"Folks are upset over seeing
an art museum all smashed up,"
said Shiv. "So first, I'm inviting
them to bring broken glass over
to Hanson Hall for artists to turn
back into art. Second, you need
to make sure that people have
coping skills for rough jobs."

"I've made a note about
your recommendation for
coping skills," she said.
"Shall I connect you with
the team leader at Chihuly?"

"Yes, please," Shiv said. "I
have our building manager
passing the word here and
arranging workshop space.
That includes permission
to land indoors, so I will
set up a beacon for that."

"I'll let them know," she said.
"Patching you through now."

A soft ringing sounded, and
then a man said, "Hello, this is
Lizardbus, currently supervising
the salvage teleporters at Chihuly.
I hear Pavo landed with you?"

"Yeah, he's pretty wrecked,"
said Shiv. "I told Dispatch to be
more careful about coping skills
when assigning volunteers."

"Thank you," said Lizardbus.
"Hopefully they will send us
some emotional first aid too.
Feelings aren't my strong suit."

"Me neither, that's why I'm
down here fixing this clusterfuck
instead of up in my studio with
Pavo crying on me," said Shiv.

"Dispatch also said that you're
looking for glass," said Lizardbus.

"Yeah, I'm gathering artists who
can recycle or upcycle broken glass,"
said Shiv. "Send me what you got."

"Can do," said Lizardbus. "Listen,
how are your facilities? I've got
some teleporters who probably
shouldn't be here and could
really use a soft landing."

"Sure, send 'em my way,"
said Shiv. "Hanson Hall has
food, healthy touch, and even
nap space if they need it. I'll
ask Sudarshina to list options
so that visitors can find stuff."

"Thanks for taking care of
my people," said Lizardbus.

"I am friends with The Teleport,"
said Shiv. "Comes with the territory."

He wrapped up the call with Lizardbus,
then returned to the manager's office.

"Hey, Sudarshina," said Shiv. "Can you
make like a mini-directory of Hanson Hall
for the teleporters? List where they can
find food, emotional or physical first aid,
restock on supplies, and all that jazz?"

"I'm on it," she said, making a note. "I
have people setting up your workroom,
so you can head up when you're ready."

"I need to get Pavo first, then yeah,
we'll get over there," said Shiv.

With that, he went back upstairs
to see how well the teleporter
was doing in his studio.

Shiv found the fudge tin
empty and Pavo rooting in
the cabinets for more food.

"Here, I keep food bars in
this one," Shiv said as he
opened up a lower cabinet.
"Take as much as you need."

"Thanks," Pavo said. "I mean,
sorry to raid your food stash,
but I'm still pretty ravenous."

"Teleporters have hollow legs,"
Shiv agreed. "Anyhow, I got us
a workroom for the glass project.
Sudarshina has people setting it up
for us. Lizardbus is passing the word
among the teleporters at Chihuly."

"Good, that's good," Pavo said
with his mouth full. "It'll help."

"Have you got a beacon we
can stick in a corner to let folks
know it's okay to land inside for
the workshop?" Shiv asked.

"Yeah, I always carry one,"
Pavo said, digging in a pocket
with his free hand. "Here."

This type of beacon looked
like an electronic keyfob and
had a ring with a hook, magnet,
and suction cup so it could
attach almost anywhere.

"Do you want to come see
the workroom, or would you
rather avoid people?" Shiv said.

"I'll come," Pavo agreed. "I want
to see what you can do with this."

Shiv led the way to the row of
dedicated studios that faced
multipurpose workrooms and
classrooms across the hall, then
found their assigned workroom.

Several people bustled in and out,
setting up the tables and chairs.

Inside, it had a smooth concrete floor
and a utility sink. Large cabinets and
countertops lined the walls, some made
of wood, others metal. Pegboards and
shelves hung on the walls, full of tools.

"Are those wheels? Do those move?"
Pavo said, eyeing a row of fixtures.

Shiv shoved one with his hip,
but it didn't even budge.

Looking down, he spied
the little lever on the wheel
and stepped on it. When
he shoved again, it moved.

"Yeah, these ones are
mobile, why?" he said.

"Because we can use
them to make a fence
around the teleport pad
in a corner," Pavo said.
"Better if we could make
some sort of gate, though."

"Crowd control ropes and
magnets are in that cabinet,"
a volunteer said, pointing.

"Thanks," Shiv said. He
found a rope with hooks that
would cling to metal cabinets.

Then he helped Pavo set up
a teleport pad with enough room
to hold a teleporter and cargo.

Using one rolling countertop
gave the option of passing stuff
over the top as well as dragging
heavier things past the rope.

"This looks good," Pavo said.
"Uh ... should we think about
spaces for different tasks?
There's a lot of tables here."

"Yeah, staging is important,"
Shiv said. "My dads have been
helping with salvage, not just
the little bit I've done. They're
sending out glass forges and
metal forges to process some
of the rubble on location, which
requires sorting and staging."

He looked around at the rows
of random tables and chairs,
then whistled at the volunteers.

"I need some blank paper, tape,
and markers," he requested.

Someone opened a cabinet
and produced them for him.

Quickly Shiv wrote out signs
for Stained Glass Windows,
Mosaics, Mixed Media,
Jewelry, and Upcycle This!

He wasn't sure what-all folks
would want to do, but he was
sure those would be popular.

He distributed those around
tables on one side of the room,
then thought about what else.

Next he made signs for Small,
Medium, and Large so they
could sort out the salvage
based on size of pieces.

"Should we do colors?"
Pavo asked, watching
Shiv label the tables.

"After we see what we
get, yeah," said Shiv.

Okay, so the teleporters
had a safe place to land,
and the artists had places
to work with the glass.

Sudarshina came in
with Simcha in tow.

"I brought a list of
services," she said,
handing Shiv a page.

"I heard what happened
and thought you could use
someone who's skilled with
kindness and emotions,"
Simcha added, smiling.

"I can use all the help I
can get," Shiv said as he
looked over the page. "Do
we have portable chalkboards
and some colored art chalk?
I can make bigger signs."

"Good idea," Simcha said.
He found the art chalk in
a cabinet but had to send
a volunteer for chalkboards
from the storage closet.

Sudarshina headed
back downstairs.

Pavo leaned against
Simcha for comfort.

Shiv just focused on
sorting through the list
of services and deciding
how to make the signs.

He wound up with a pair
of double-sided chalkboards,
so he made four categories.

The first one he did up
mostly in red and white.

First Aid:
Holistic Health Center
-- physical & emotional first aid
-- healthy touch
-- counseling

Food:
The Canteen eatery
Fuck Yeah Loaves and Fishes food pantry
Coexist Community Kitchen
-- Make deli salads at 2 PM
-- Make gainer shakes at 4 PM
-- Make Fortified Treats at 6 PM

The second one Shiv did in
soothing blues and greens.

Self-Care & Coping:
Primp & Pamper Beauty Salon and Bodycare Shop
Dobutsu Kannon Temple of Animal Care
Reading Room
Sensory Room
Meditation Room
Peace Room
Quiet Room

Sleep:
The Crash Pad
Max's Nap Room

"Wow, that looks good,"
Pavo said as Shiv set up
the chalkboards near
the teleport pad.

"It really does,"
Simcha agreed.

"It's basically what
I do at work," Shiv said.
"I make the art menus
for specials and stuff."

Anye Denisard and
Lunette came in next.

Anye wore gray jeans
with a T-shirt printed in
stylized mountains that
looked like glass shards.

Lunette's T-shirt read,
Creating Glass Art:
Cheaper Than Therapy.

"We heard that you're
holding a glass workshop,"
said Anye. "Salvage?"

"Yeah, we'll be getting
some stuff from Chihuly,"
said Shiv, then pointed at
Lunette. "You are not on
sorting. Tell us what you
want and we'll look for it."

"I know, I know, I'm a klutz,"
Lunette said with a shrug. "I do
a lot of moon windows, so I like
cool colors, white or clear, and
especially textures that will
affect the way the light flows."

"We'll watch for those," Shiv said.
"Anye, what would you like to see?"

"I can use almost anything, but I
like earth tones and cool colors,"
said Anye. "I mostly make windows,
but I can work with curved glass too."

Other people were starting to trickle in,
but Shiv didn't see anyone else that
he knew, so he tuned them out.

Instead he continued to work on
the setup, making sure that Pavo
was okay-ish and getting the girls
settled at the table for windows.

Then the first teleporter arrived.

"Viridian!" Shiv called, recognizing
her from Pavo's cohort. "What
did you bring for us today?"

"The yellow tub has a mess
of clear window glass mixed
with shards of red, orange, and
yellow art glass," said Viridian.
"The white one has ribbons
of clear and white art glass."

She looked like she'd been
crying, her mascara running.

"Okay, great, we can use that,"
said Shiv. "You do some modeling,
right? Come over here and meet
everyone. You can sign up for
modeling if you want something
fun to do -- the dedicated studios
are all right across the hall."

Viridian sniffled. "Yeah, that
does sound fun," she admitted.

So Shiv introduced her to the artists --
at least the ones he knew, because
more were showing up -- and showed
her the Hanson Hall app that listed
activities, times, and locations.

Then he popped the tops off of
the tubs, and wow that was a lot
of brightly colored broken glass.

"Okay, rules," said Shiv. "Everyone
sorting glass wears cut-resistant gloves
and goggles, unless you have some sort
of superpower protection instead." He
wiggled his fingers to mime his own.

"Somebody already laid out that stuff,"
Pavo said, pointing to a couple of boxes.

"Great," said Shiv. "I'm serious about it,
people, if you screw off and slice yourself,
I will not defend you from the upset medic
who has to mop up the mess you made."

"Fair point," said Lunette. "It's not
your fault if someone fucks up."

Shiv so wasn't used to people
not automatically blaming him.

"Another thing -- if by some miracle
you find anything whole, then set it
aside and we will send it back to
the museum because it's still art,"
he said. "We just get what's broke."

Viridian perked up. "I can do that,"
she offered. "It's more hopeful."

"Wrap any whole pieces to put in
here," Simcha said, bringing a tub.
that he labeled the Miracle Box.

The volunteers had set out
a wide assortment of tubs,
bowls, trays, and other kinds
of containers for sorting glass.

Now people started poking
through what Viridian had
brought to see what it was.

"Lunette and I can share
the clear window glass,"
said Anye. "That should
work for piecing together
windows or mosaics."

"I want those bits of
white or clear art glass
with texture," said Lunette.

"Lampshades, maybe, or
geometric terrarium boxes,"
Anye said, riffing further.

Pavo looked glumly at
the tub of hot-colored glass.

"I think these used to be plates
or maybe flowers," he said.
"Too bad they're all smashed."

"Hmm," Shiv said, holding up
two different pie-wedges. "You
could fit some together and put
them in a kiln to fuse, then make
platters or bowls with them."

"Birdbaths!" Lunette sang out.
"With little glass birds on them!"

"Sure, why not," Shiv said. He
began laying out batches that
more-or-less fit together.

A couple of guys he didn't
know grabbed trays and
loaded up matched sets
to take to the Hotshop
out behind Hanson Hall.

Shiv paused to label
some of the containers
by color, so people could
sort the glass that way.

A new girl bounded in,
her long dark ponytail
bouncing. "Hi guys, I'm
Dexy Jahr and I heard
you're doing upcycling?"

"Yeah, it's salvage glass,
and folks can use it however
they want," Shiv explained.

"Awesome!" said Dexy. "I do
all kinds of upcycling. What
sort of stuff do you have?"

Popstop appeared inside
an expanding bubble of space
with a yellow tub and a red tub.

"Let's find out," Shiv said as
he pried the tops off the tub.

The first one held yellow points
and curves that, when pieced
together, might have been
some kind of squiggle.

The second one had
red shards that could
have been bubbles
and trumpet shapes.

"Well, that's no use
to me and Lunette,"
Anye said, shaking
her head. "We need
flatter pieces than this."

"I can use these," said Dexy.
"The squiggles should work
for hummingbird feeders or
vases. Some of the trumpets
are big enough for lampshades."

"Oh, like those tippy lamps?"
Shiv said. He'd heard of those.

"Tiffany lamps, yeah, they're made
out of stained glass," said Dexy.
"They actually started out as
an upcycling project to use up
scrap glass from windows."

She tilted a large shard
to examine it. "Some of
these have bad chips on
the edges, though, so I may
have to do a lot of filling in."

"Or you could just pass it
to me," Shiv said. He lifted
a piece and smoothed the rim
with a kiss of his superpower.

"Now that's impressive,"
Dexy said, staring at him.
"How long can you do that?"

"A while," Shiv said vaguely.

"Don't overdo it," said Pavo.
"Save your superpower for
where it'll work better than
the ordinary methods will."

"Yeah, good point," said Shiv.
"Otherwise I'll be starving."

"Someone can fetch food,"
said Pavo. "I saw the list, and
Hanson Hall has good eats."

"That it does," Shiv agreed.
"I love eating out here."

He looked for small things
to do in between whatever
other people requested.

There were plenty of
little bits in bright colors,
which gave him an idea.

"Hey Pavo, how much do
teleport beacons cost?"
Shiv said. "I'm thinking
I could make keychains
with a beacon embedded."

"For you, nothing," Pavo said,
typing on his phone. "I've
requested a box of them,
along with some extra parts
like hooks and magnets."

"Thanks," Shiv said, and
started making keychains
from the glass fragments.

When the parts arrived,
he experimented with
different arrangements
until he found one that
felt more comfortable.

"That looks nice,"
Pavo said, smiling.

"Good," said Shiv.
"I permed the glass
so it can't break."

"That's a great idea,"
Pavo said, then paused.
"Do you think it will affect
how the beacon works?"

"Dunno," Shiv said. He
turned it on, then managed
to open a window far enough
to drop it out. "Let's find out."

"What the hell?" Pavo yelped.

"We're testing," said Shiv. "Is
the beacon working? Can you
find it and jump back up here?"

Pavo rolled his eyes, but he
teleported away. A moment
later, he reappeared with
the keychain in hand.

"You are such a dick,"
Pavo said to Shiv.

"Yep, supervillain,"
Shiv said cheerfully.

"Thank you for making
the keychains, though,"
said Pavo. "Some folks
worry about breaking theirs."

Shiv knew that sometimes
teleportation came with
other abilities, such as
Super-Speed, and that
made it a credible threat.

Another of Pavo's cohort
arrived, someone called Razz.

"This stuff is, like, pebbles
and gravel," ey said, patting
the side of a tall plastic trash can.
"This one has what used to be
spheres. I think." That was
long and low with wheels.

"Not sure if anyone will
want this," Shiv said as
he peered into them. "It's
all in small fragments, lumpy,
and the colors are jumbled too."

"Oh, me, me!" Dexy said, waving
her hand. "I have a tumbler. I use
it to make frosted art glass. You
dump in broken glass with sand
and some rock salt, then you just
wait for it to finish how you want."

"A tumbler?" asked Lunette. "I've
heard of those, but never seen one."

"Come over some time, and I'll
show you mine," Dexy invited.

"I'd love to," said Lunette.
"How is it working for you?"

"It's great," said Dexy. "I'm
renting a garage apartment from
an old lady, Edith Eldridge. She
lets me use part of the garage for
a workshop. I'm paying most
of my rent in craft supplies
and home repairs, and we
keep each other company."

"I will totally take you up
on that," Lunette promised.

Dexy stirred the colored bits
with a long metal spoon. "Some
of these would make good jewelry,
I think," she said. "Other pieces
could just go in a kiln to melt down
into cabochons. It's all art glass
and the colors are gorgeous."

Several other folks came over
to sort out pieces for those ideas.

"Hey, look at this!" Lunette said,
holding up a yellow sphere with
flecks of red. "It's actually intact."

"Miracle Box," Ahimsa said as
he pointed to the label. "We'll
be returning any whole pieces
to the museum for display."

"I'm glad we found one,"
said Pavo. "It makes me
feel a little better about this."

Nick Thatcher from Nick's Thrifts
showed up, having heard about
the impromptu salvage workshop.

"Hey, Shiv," said Nick. "I thought
I'd come over since I know all about
broken things, and broken people."

"Good call," said Shiv. "It's been --"

With a loud jangle, a new teleporter
arrived and dropped off a blue tub
and a big round black container
that looked like a garbage can.

"-- kind of hectic," Shiv finished,
watching the teleporter jingle away.
"Want to help me open these?"

"Sure," said Nick. He pried off
the blue top. "Looks like ... balls,
blue balls, and fragments too."

"If you see any whole ones,
they go in the Miracle Box for
the museum," said Shiv. "If
there are big pieces of balls,
they could turn into bowls
or something like that."

"Yeah, that should work,"
said Nick. "Maybe do them
with irregular rim shapes."

Shiv opened the black one.
"Okay, I've got purple tubes
and black ... what even is this?"

"Looks like a bird, maybe,"
Nick said. "There's not
much left but the head."

"Too bad," said Shiv.
"It must have been cute."

"This one is almost whole,"
said Nick. "It just has a hole
on the back. If that was smooth,
it would make a great planter."

Shiv stuck his fingers inside,
smoothing the hole to turn
the bird into a planter. He
had seen things like that at
his favorite houseplant store.

"Here, have it," Shiv said. "You
can sell it in your thrift shop."

Dexy had most of a bird head.
"Could you smooth this so it
keeps this gap at the bottom?"
she asked. "That will make
a really cool toad abode."

"Never heard of that,"
Shiv said, but he did
what she asked anyhow.

"You put it in the garden as
shelter for toads and frogs,"
Dexy explained. "Then they
eat up lots of mosquitoes."

"Hell, now I want one, and
I don't even have a yard,"
Shiv muttered. "Clever."

Popstop came back with
the next batch of glass
in several containers.

"So there used to be
this ocean tree thing,"
he said. "Most of it's
all busted up, but you
can still see some of
the starfish and shells."

"Wow," Shiv said softly,
looking into one of the tubs.

Most of the shards were in
watery shades of blue and
green, but the animals
were a bright sunny gold.

"Right, I call first dibs on
this stuff," Shiv declared.

He pulled out a bunch of
parts to make something
for Aida, including some
of the most intact critters.

He did find one starfish
still whole, but it went
into the Miracle Box.

Shiv made a set of
sea-colored tableware
that looked delicate
but was unbreakable.

He pieced together
a starfish, a nautilus,
a seahorse, and a few
of the shells to make
a lamp -- or rather, what
would be a lamp once he
got someone else to put
the electric parts in it.

"Are you done with
these?" Dexy asked,
tapping the tubs.

"Yeah, go ahead
and take whatever
you want," Shiv said.

Dexy organized a group
of artists to sort out pieces,
hiding the broken parts of
the animals amidst curls
and ribbons that looked
like swirls of seafoam.

They titled the sculpture
Save What You Can
and dedicated it to
marine conservation.

Razz brought something
a bit different from the rest.

"The white tub has a bunch
of mirrored glass," ey said.
"The red one has solid pink,
I mean big hunks like rocks."

Dexy checked out the first one
and said, "Yeah, iridescent and
mirrored glass is ideal for mosaics
and other upcycled art. Lunette,
Anye, do you want some too?"

"Yes, please," said Lunette.
"I've already got some white
and clear, so iridescent and
mirrored would go great."

"I'll take a few pieces too,"
said Shiv. If he added a bit of
black to the silver, he could turn
Aida's tableware set to glas.

"Let me see that pink,"
said Simcha. "Wow, this
does look like rocks. I'm
taking some of it to share
with Rozeve Pave later."

"Does she work with
glass?" Shiv wondered.

"She's not an artist per se,
but she likes occasional crafts,"
said Simcha. "Most of this is
big enough to carve, slice, or
tumble. Rozeve Pave can
decide what she wants and
find someone to do it for her."

"That's fair," said Anye. "We've
already got stuff, and besides,
there's a lot of the pink glass."

"We also got lucky at Chihuly,"
Razz reported. "Someone found
what used to be an overwater display.
Except where they hit each other,
most of those are intact. So we're
saving them for the museum staff."

"Let me grab the Miracle Box and
I'll go back with you," said Viridian.
"We found a few whole pieces too."

"Yeah, they're already talking about
rebuilding the museum somewhere,"
said Razz. "I hope they succeed."

"They should try using some of
the salvage at the new place,"
Shiv suggested. "There's plenty."

"Like what?" Razz asked. "I thought
that you were making art stuff here."

"We are, but that's not all you can
make with broken glass," said Shiv.
"My dads have sent glass forges
and metal forges out west so folks
can recycle things. You can make
glass tiles or bricks, for instance,
even if the glass is mixed colors."

"What should we do with the bits
too small to work with?" Nick asked.
"The bottoms of these tubs are full
of ... basically multicolored sand."

"That's frit," several people chorused.

"Yeah, and small shards or gravel
can also be used as it is or pounded
down to make frit," Lunette added.

"Not in here!" Shiv said. "Do that
at the Hotshop. It's set up for
higher-risk art projects -- and
make sure to wear protection."

"We could use some of the frit
to create concrete blocks,"
said Anye. "I've seen those
on buildings in my area, and
they really sparkle in the sun."

"So like, the new museum
could be constructed partly
with the bones of Chihuly?"
Dexy said. "I love that idea."

"Everyone's gonna love
that idea," Shiv said as he
took out his smartphone and
sent a message to the crew
doing museum salvage.

Someone there could
research companies that
made concrete blocks from
recycled glass, and find out
who'd be interested in helping.

It got him thinking, though,
about the camo glass that
he had seen before, made
from random bits of glass
taken out of recycling bins.

Clear, amber, and green were
the three most common colors,
and when mixed as chips, they
really came out looking like
a camouflage pattern.

Tolli and Simon liked
camo glass, as did
most other veterans
and many hunters.

Shiv rummaged
through the tubs
and found one that
probably had come
from a recycling bin.

"Check this out," he said,
passing his hands over
a tray full of bits to fuse it
into a large flat pane. "You
can do this in a kiln, too."

"Oh, confetti glass!"
Lunette said. "I usually
use brighter colors for it."

"This is camo glass, made
from the common colors,"
Shiv explained. "You could
do it with art glass, though."

Lunette and Dexy quickly
recruited people to help
gather glass fragments
in the right size for that.

Shiv rolled his pane into
a loose cone that would
make a good lampshade,
then set it aside to take
to his dads later on.

"I do like that palette,"
said Anye. "I think I'll get
some slightly bigger pieces
and work up a window design."

Ahimsa wandered in, spotted Shiv,
and came over to talk with him.
"So um ... have you been
sending people my way?"

"Yeah, 'cause you got
a bunch of cats listed for
purr therapy right now,"
Shiv replied. "Why?"

"Because I'm already
up ten thousand dollars
and three different people
told me they needed to check
their budget or favors and
would get back to me later,"
Ahimsa said, looking bemused.

"Some teleporters got it to spare,
and Chihuly wrecked a bunch of
folks," said Shiv. "If you need me
to cross it off the board because
you're overflowing, though, I can."

"No, it's fine for now," said Ahimsa.
"I heard something about you
making a stained-glass cat?"

"That's mine," said Pavo.
"I just told a few friends."

Shiv snorted. "You tell
a teleporter, you might as
well put it on the news."

"I just thought it sounded
like the kind of thing we
put in charity auctions,"
Ahimsa explained.

"I don't have everything
that I would need in order
to make you a new one in
that pattern, but let me
see what I can do with
what I have," said Shiv.

He grabbed a piece of
white ribbon glass and
twisted it into a cat with
perked ears, then added
a speck of pink for a nose
and two bottle-green eyes.

"Here you go," Shiv said,
handing it to Ahimsa. "I
made it shatterproof,
too, because cats."

"Thank you so much,"
said Ahimsa. "I'll keep
the Temple open for
purr therapy as long as
I can, and let you know
when it's time to close."

"Shiv, can you help me
with this?" Dexy called.
"We found enough pieces
to make hummingbird feeders
with many ports, but we need
help assembling them since
we can't use a kiln for this."

"Sure," Shiv said. "Why
so many together, though?"

"Hummingbirds are bitchy
little things," said Dexy. "They
don't like to share, and they only
visit each flower once. So if you
put out multiple feeders, and
each one has dozens of ports,
there's enough to go around."

"Good idea," said Shiv. He
looked at the tangle of glass
made from fragments of spires
and squiggles where the ends
were still solid. Currently
the pieces were just taped
the way they should fit.

He used his superpower
to seal the glass together
and smooth out the edges.

"Don't hummingbird feeders
have little flowers on them?"
he said, looking at open ends.

"Yeah, we'll get some of those
to install later," said Dexy. "You
can buy all the parts separate."

Suddenly something teased
at Shiv's attention. He lifted
his head, sniffing the air.

"Hey, does anyone else
smell fish?" he wondered.

"Yeah, and it's making me
hungry," Lunette replied.

"Wash your hands and
come get food," said Junket,
holding up a big wicker basket.

"What are you doing here?"
Shiv said. "You work for a living."

"Everyone knows you love seafood,"
said Junket. "We thought that you'd
enjoy being thanked with lobster rolls."

"I brought sushi from my favorite place in
San Francisco, since it survived the quake,"
said another teleporter who Shiv didn't
even know. He set down a big box.

"Sushi's good," Shiv said. "What'd you get?"

"Tuna, salmon, eel, some rainbow rolls
with different colors, a couple dragons
in case you like the hot stuff, and
one spider roll," said the teleporter.

"Ooo! I want the spider roll, I love
those things," Dexy said, pouncing.

"Hey, I like them too," Shiv protested,
hurrying to wash his hands in the art sink.

"Halfsies?" Dexy offered. "I want to try
the other stuff and I bet you do too."

"Deal," Shiv said, and divided that one
between two plates. He loved the way
that the little fried legs stuck out the ends.

He crunched his way through those,
then tried one each of the other kinds.

The rainbow roll was colorful and fun,
and the dragon roll was so hot that
just biting into it made him yelp.

The lobster rolls were done up
in spring roll wrappers so you
could see the pink pieces inside,
the filling juicy and delicious.

Shiv savored the different flavors,
Yeah, the teleporters had his number.

He was tired and hungry after all of
the work he'd done today, but he felt
like he really accomplished something.

Best of all, Pavo was actually smiling.

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its character, location, and content notes will appear separately.

Comments

[fyreharper]

“My dads”!!!!!!

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Shiv did eventually accept them as such. Finns tend to grow on you. ;)

[siliconshaman]

Shiv is in good with The Teleport for the next hundred years or so..!!

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

He also put one of them on his own couch shortly after the Big One. There is a reason why they're so attached to him, skittish thing that he is.

[fyreharper]

</3 <3

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm glad you enjoyed this. :D

[readera]

I enjoyed this a lot. I've already read it twice!

I'm excited to see the notes which I'm sure will be full of lots of art pictures!

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I enjoyed this a lot. I've already read it twice! <<

I'm glad you like it! :D

>> I'm excited to see the notes which I'm sure will be full of lots of art pictures! <<

I have the Character set almost done. Yes, there are lots of vivid pictures to come.

[(Anonymous)]

I would love to learn more about T-Dale Chihuly!

--Laura G

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

By all means, ask for that in any relevant prompt call.