I’ll make a little paper boat,

And fill it with a song;



A melody so full of Joy,

To help it float along.





Next I’ll  paint along its sides,

Stripes of gleaming red;

For Courage it can hold on to,

Through storms that lie ahead.


For it’s sails I’ll pluck some stars,

From an endless inky sky;


So they can light its course with Hope,

As the wind comes roaring by.



It gathers and blows its icy breath;

And builds up to a howl,


Until it shreds the shiny sails,

With a mighty hellish growl!




Bringing with it a numbing cold,

And a pressing dark so blind;

It fills my heart with a nameless Fear,

Spreading terror through my mind.


Upon its heels comes Despair,

With its keening siren’s wail;

Stealing words from my prayers,

So even God might not prevail.


Yet even in this chasm deep,

And through the pitch dark night;



I see the glimmer of my Faith,

In a faintly beckoning light.





There she stands, tall and firm,

Her blazing torch held high;


Appearing through the murky haze,

To heed my wordless cry!


”Well, here I am”, says She,

“You called me and I came;

My name is Lady Liberty,

This is the Freedom game.


I wear a crown upon my head,

And hold the book of Law;

It calls exiles to my side,

With Freedom as the draw.


Now with the passing of the years,

With the tugging tides;

My sheen has dulled quite a bit,

And has dented my pride!


But, I’d like to help, if I can;

For it is still within my power.

So state your name, file a claim,

Fulfill the need of the hour.”


A fresh chill runs down my spine,

Hearing the Lady speak...

Holding tight to my broken boat,

I say with a voice so weak,


”I confess I don’t know much,

Of the things you tell me now;

I tried to fill the boat I made,

From stern until the bow;


With precious gifts that I found,

In the tales my mother told;

My Dream I shaped within me,

Into this boat I now hold!


The land of my birth is long gone,

As is my fondest Dream!

The tears that fill my mother’s eyes,

They hold the brightest gleam!




I find your Truth is harsher still,

And here, I stand alone,

My name is “Tomorrow”,

All I want to claim - is “Home”!”