Talk

Talk



Let’s talk about something.
Let’s talk about how ridiculous the weather is in Boston.
About how much work we have,
About how we have no idea what we are going to do after graduation,
About how our parents are certifiably insane,
About how one of our professors smells like rotten cheese,
About the new band that nobody’s heard of
About this stupid Youtube video
About the crappy economy
About the depressing news
About how the Red Sox are a disgrace.
Actually let’s talk about something else.
Enough with the complaining,
Let’s talk about things we really care about.

Let’s talk about life
How it’s this chaotic rush of emotions,
How it’s nonsensical, unpredictable,
Scintillating, Abysmally boring,
Difficult,
Impossible
And absolutely wonderful.

Let’s talk about fear.
How to most of the people here,
The scariest thing wouldn’t be
an alien attack
Or some Nazi Zombies
Or Chihuahuas
But the look of disappointment our parents give us
when we don’t live up to their expectations.

Let’s talk about joy.
Now I’m not talking about the joy you feel
when you see the Red Sox finally win a game
That’s more like surprise
Since it’s such a rare occasion.
I’m talking about the joy you feel
when you see your best friend succeed,
when you get an A on a test you studied so hard for
that you may have suffered a minor stroke.
I’m talking about the joy you feel
That you can’t keep it in,
You hug everyone in sight
You jump around the hallways
The joy when you get your first kiss
The joy when you finally get that diploma
The joy when this weird kid finishes his incredibly long poem.

Let’s talk about regret,
That thing we wish we could take back
But we just can’t
That thing that keeps you up at night
That thing you pray to God to forgive you,
Because you can’t forgive yourself.
Let’s talk about how regret is universal
And we have to forgive ourselves
Because we will always screw up,
We will always say hateful things,
But we are also capable of incredible things
We can lift each other up,
Give a warm hug
A gentle pat
We can whisper that everything is going to be alright
And suddenly it is.

Let’s talk about the most important emotion.
Let’s talk about love.
About how people are falling in love
In this room
Right now

But some women think that they aren’t
Pretty enough
Skinny enough
Funny enough
Smart enough
Popular enough
Normal enough
Important enough
Noticed enough
Loved enough.

Let’s talk about how the men are too scared to talk to you ladies
Because we can’t even begin to tell you,
How time freezes when you enter the room,
And how every frozen second with you sends invisible shockwaves across our skin
How we go dizzy and faint from the euphoria
And how the charming words we wish we could say
Get stuck in our throat,
And all you hear is our infinite idiocy.
How when your eyes crease when you laugh,
How when you are nervous you talk too much
How when you are embarrassed, you fiddle
With your pencil
your paper
your hair
With anything in reach
How these little quirks are not imperfections
How we melt when you smile awkwardly
How there aren’t enough words in the English language to express our feelings,
heart-throbbing,
mind-numbing,
soul-stopping
feelings.
How you are better than any angel sent from god,
How you stole our hearts,
And we want you to keep them forever,
How you are here,
Right now,
And we can’t breathe,
But we’re not sure we want to,
We pinch ourselves to make sure we aren’t dreaming
Pinch harder and harder
But we are sure we are dreaming
Because no one can be as lovely as you.

Women of this room, know this.
We notice you.
You are important
You are funny, in your own goofy way
You are beautiful,
So incredibly breath taking.
You should know that men don’t want normal,
We love your uniqueness,
your quibbles,
your strange habits
your crazy laugh
We wish you knew how many people adore you,
And how we want to drop kick the dozen other men after your heart
We wish you knew that men could care less about how much you weigh,
How much make-up you have on,
Or what clothes you wear.
You could be in a paper bag and we’d still love you.

And to the men of this room, I say this.
Man the hell up.
You could have the princess of your dreams next to you,
The person who completes you,
Who makes you happy beyond your imagination,
And you’re too scared of rejection to even ask her out.
Instead you’ll go home,
Play some videogames
And sob into your pillow.
Ask her out.
She’s waiting impatiently.

Let’s not talk.
Let’s sit in silence and appreciate how good we have it.
Let’s look around.
You’ll find people who would do anything for you,
Take a bullet for you,
Or worse, talk to your parents.
Let’s understand this.
This is the time of our lives,
Let’s not waste it.