You Must be This Tall to Enjoy This Ride
Imagine a roller coaster.
Remove sunglasses and secure belongings.
The ride starts easy, you're smiling,
Feeling confident.
A heaviness at the bottom of your stomach.
Anticipation is building,
During that slow, torturous rise to the peak,
Anxiety has your teeth clenched.
You keep thinking "NOW!"
But the drop doesn't come like that.
Oh, no.
You're becoming exasperated,
Is something wrong?
Shouldn't the ride have ----
OOHHHHHHAAAAHHHHEEEEEE!!
You are tossed
Over the edge of that indecisive peak.
Flying through the air,
Whipped about like a rag doll without bones.
At times, you're lifted out of your seat,
You grab the harness, knowing that
Single, tiny piece is the only thing
Standing between you and a
Truly Grotesque Death.
You are squinting, the world is dazzling.
Shockingly bright without your sunglasses.
The air whizzing by dries your eyes,
Blink, blink, blink, blink;
yet still hard to see.
You are hurtling through the air.
Flying almost, what a rush.
Adrenaline pumps through your veins.
The body's chemical reaction to what it sees as
A Close Call With Death.
A produced euphoria.
You are screaming with the thrill,
That mix of terror and glee and loss of control.
And your screams mingle with others.
Indistinguishable.
Unheard over the roar of the ride.
With an unforgiving jerk,
you are brought to a abrupt stop.
A slow, easy glide back the launching point.
You're laughing, relieved to be alive.
You're legs are shaking a bit,
unsure if this ground can be trusted.
You may have a pain in your neck,
or a throbbing headache.
This can happen when you go
hurtling through the sky
at breakneck speeds.
Falling in love is just like this.
From the delicious anticipation
of the first kiss,
To the sweet surrender of self,
Allowing your emotions to be
At the mercy of someone else.
To the discourteous halt,
when suddenly -
There is no more turbulence.
No velocity, no speed, no thrill.
You wonder about the other ride you saw.
Pretty sure it was bigger.
Faster. Bet it's a heart dropping thrill.
Maybe it's time to try that one!
Just like a roller coaster ride,
love eventually runs its course.
You exit with aches and pains,
No one gets off this ride
without paying a price.
But for some odd reason,
That euphoric rush from flying is
A stronger draw than the logical brain
That warns "Don't do it! You'll get hurt!"
You know you're going to be sore.
You'll pay for subjecting yourself to this abuse
Tomorrow.
But today, you say,
"Let's ride some more!!"
And hop back in another line.