Hey Boat,

Will you tell me a bedtime story? Where none of us are sick and everything has a purpose and a place? Will you let me believe in something that doesn't exist just so I don't have to feel so damned hateful and alone? Will you let me see some of the beauty, tonight? I've got blinders on and my head is running in one thousand different circles. I am so tired of hating parts of myself. Boat will you give me a hug without making me ask for one? Will you tell me I'm pretty and nice of your own accord rather than my pleading? Self confidence is a slippery slope and I've got loads one second and a few grains the next. I just want you to promise that you'll never leave me, even though I don't believe in promises of that nature. Oh Boat, it's been a long day and I want to sleep but I've got too many tears standing in the way.

Love, Tiina

Shanty Town.

My Dear Sweet Misguided Boat,

My Ever Present Future,

My Ideal,

My Home,

Long abused and neglected. Ivy covering your half-paint, half-rust facades- love abbandoned in the window boxes. Everything is alone, no helpful hands to guide or misuse. You're free, you're wild, you're young and you're alone. It is a very powerful time. Trust me. You're a place in my mind, you're the boat in the Newtown Creek and you're safe in my heart. A ghost ship. My ghost ship. You're an extentsion of my soul and you're forever alive in me. Just because I don't wave that often doesn't mean that I don't say "Hello" with every breath I take. I love you. More than ever. Things are always more beautiful when they've got a little bit of dirt in their nooks and crannies. You've aged my friend, you're growing- and it's good to grow. I love you, unconditionally.

Mom.