the hobo

he had a fiancee from minnesota

named diane.

she was passionate about

classical music,

and played the violin.

on their first date she asked him

what he was passionate about.

he answered: ocean liners.

after talking about it a while,

she wondered: if she were a ship,

what ship would she be?

without hesitation, he answered:

aquatania. not aqua.

(you see, ships in the early teens

were made in threes. this was so because

they wanted one ship on either side of the ocean

and one in the middle at all times.

aquatania had sisters

named lusitania and

mauritania).

all of the ships had nicknames, too.

aquatania's nickname was

"the ship beautiful," which is why

he decided to call her such a bizarre thing.

she died in a car accident,

her violin survived.

he put it in a blue trunk

and put it in the basement.

years later, his daughter found

the violin in the trunk

and plays it.

he searches for recyclables in

trash cans.