How to live poem

How to live

“I don’t want to know how to live”

By Eva Hertz

Cry to Titanic and Dawson’s Creek. Wear pink and
yellow, you won’t regret it. Climb Mt. Everest or rent
the how-to movie. It costs $60.000 dollars and
you die. Be passionate, but don’t be obsessed. That’s
just creepy. Don’t learn Latin, it’s a dead language.
Go backpacking through Europe

and eat baguettes in front of the Eiffel Tower. Listen to
Eagles, Beatles and Spice Girls. Read Harry Potter and
pretend you’re in it. The world would be cool if you could say
lumos and then there would be light. Don’t get a pet unless
you love them, they are annoying but if you get one, treat
them right. Watch the news every day so you know

what’s going on. Don’t be the person who asks who Osama Bin
Laden is or who bombed Pearl Harbor. Kiss like stars on TV and
love like crazy. Be a Buddhist, a Christian or a Muslim if it makes
your life better. Cry when Troy and Gabriella graduate from East
High. Don’t be embarrassed about something that has a place in
your heart. Be spontaneous, don’t plan your life. Don’t go

tanning. The result is orange skin and cancer. Do sports,
drama or Student Government. Don’t cheat. It’s not nice and it
will bite you in the ankles one day. Skip school once in the
spring to walk around in the sun with your best friend. Play
“Would you rather” while eating Ben and Jerry’s. Don’t over-use
“I love you” Go ice-skating when the first ice comes out

and fall through the thin places. Laugh about
it a day later. It’s not funny when it happens.
Be nice to your parents and siblings. They are
always on your side. Be a dreamer. Give out
advices, but don’t be the “I’m-better-than-you-and-know-it-all”
friend. Don’t say “I told you so.” Do the 10 min. AB
work-out on Exercise TV on Demand.
Eat salmon, broccoli and chocolate and
Morelli’s on Sundays. Buy a product from
the TV shop. Laugh 10 min. every day. Go swimming
in the lake on New Year’s Day. Cuddle with your

best friend. Give someone you love a hug every day
just because. Make a map of your new school because
you can’t find your classes. Memorize the lines from
“Friends” and freak people out. Be yourself. Talk to the
characters on TV, it’s fun. Dance so you can feel it
the next day. Laugh until you cry. By pizza at

your local pizzeria with stage makeup on. Don’t sing Christmas
songs until DECEMBER. And no, Christmas doesn’t last from
Thanksgiving to Easter. See the Great Wall, Taj Mahal and the
Khufu pyramid. Be generous, but don’t let people use you. Rem-
ember all the things your parents told you when you were little.
They are still true even though you are older.