i’m not exactly your local orthodox rabbi but here’s my personal opinion… not always will a girl find smoking to be so terrible and if it’s on her list of NoNos she should make a point to ask directly… if it’s something that she thinks will make it or break it, she’d probably make it her business to find out so i don’t think you need to mention it under “anything else”

ok so i’ve been itching to post my stuff here for months but i was so scared i’d be figured out by my friends who’ve seen my work… so to those of you who recognize me through my poems, you’ve always told me to share my work with others so here i go… gulp…

DONT GIVE UP

I look ahead, right at my goal

Its great distance scares me so!

And sitting here, so very far,

Getting there, seems so bizarre!

So as I stand up from my seat

I want to make a quick retreat

Maybe I’ll run the other way

And pretend that where I am’s okay

“But no you’re not” I say aloud

As if talking to a crowd

When in fact i stand alone

Making this conflict my very own

And so i win this great combat

And give my back a little pat

I look again at my goal ahead

And try to ignore the sense of dread

So many obstacles in my track

My confidence begins to slack

With a wobble, the first step i take

And then another with a shake

Stride by stride i march along

Each step making me feel strong

But then i trip over a stumbling block

And fall to the ground with one big plop

Ouch, the pain, the aches, the hurt

I moan and groan here in the dirt

And from the ground, i strain my neck

To give my goal another check…

It seems as though it jumped a mile

And reaching it might take a while…

That thought leaves me quite broken-hearted

I’d rather return to where i started

My starting point is after all,

So much closer to my fall

How easy it would be to go back there

And give my goal, not another care

And as i turn, so very slow

I begin to retreat, head hanging low

But then while crawling my way back

I suddenly stop right in my track

“You stupid fool, what have you done?

Why abandon the journey, you’ve just begun?

It may be hard, it might get tough

But trying once is not enough…

You gotta try twice, three times, or four

And if necessary, even more…

Just don’t give up, your goal’s in sight,

You just gotta keep up that fight!

If you mess up, fall, slip, or trip,

land on your face, do a backward flip,

Just rise again, up from that dirt

Clean your hands, brush off your shirt,

Stand up straight, hold your head high

And to that goal, you’ll surely fly”

so steady, carefully, slowly i stand

And wipe the dirt off from my hands

Facing my goal, i stand erect

And continue on my way, step by step.