Do I dare to eat a peach?

[juushika]

I was contemplating (and eventually decided against—the thing is overlong already) mentioning my beloved The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock in the email I'm currently writing. You know me: you know this is one of my formative works, one of the things I point to and say "me," and it matters not at all that I'm barely an adult and the poem is about an old man. It is a part of me.

But today, in writing this letter, I intended to make reference to daring—

To wonder, "Do I dare?” and, "Do I dare?"

—and to say for how a long time I dared not do anything.

I still dare not disturb the universe.

But these days, I do dare to eat a peach. I am making a friend as I write this email. I play games with someone on the other side of the internet and I hear his voice. I spent another weekend in Portland and screamed lyrics at a Decemberists show. There is juice dripping down my chin.

This, for me, is a revelation. This is just a peach, but it changes everything.