Diana Darby ** "I V" ** Intravenous

Ripping Band-aids off of Flamingos

Fuck it.
Sometimes you’ve just got to jump in the water and start swimming
you know.
Make the big jump.
Go in head first and worry about the rocks
later.
If you hit ‘em,
you hit ‘em.
This sticking one toe in at a time is for the birds.
The flamingos.
It’s painful.
Like ripping a band-aid off one hair at a time.
Just yank.
It’s not near as bad in one swoop I promise.
Life isn’t for the timid or the meek.
Fuck them.
They’ll still be standing out in the rain when the sun sets.
Just go.
Go now because tomorrow never waits.
You know?
O.k. I could stand here and hem and haw
about how I wish that things were different,
but that wouldn’t bring back my twenties
or the cute boy with the v neck t-shirt
who told me yogurt wasn’t ‘real food’.
Life is short.
Now is all we have
you know?
So do it.
Just do it.
Climb that mountain.
Write that novel.
Buy that cookie.
And if it sucks,
it sucks.
What are you waiting for?
Get out there.
Or someday you’ll be sitting in a room
with drool rolling down the side of your mouth
wondering where your teeth are.