Brown, wrinkled
and bound to fall off
I didn't yet realize
that I was more saddened
by the loss of time
than the loss
of my leather belt bracelet.

So worn
your edges crackled,
my skin tanned
around your braided
familiarity.

Senior year was over,
a bittersweet ending,
and yet
all I could think about
was that emptied
tan line
that I never wanted to
fill in.

Two years
passed
I kept
you wrapped
into
my skin.

My wrists were thin
with the bones
making corners
in my body
more slender
in your embrace,
I felt elegance
weightless
adorned
by your character
matching mine.

Built into my skin
I wore you
through sweat drips
and steamed showers.


I saw your layers
begin to lift
you hadn't left me,
not
yet.

Snapped in half
I held your carcass
in my left hand.

The metal notches
shone through
their scratches.

I stared down
your years
in my hand.

The cold classrooms
locked their doors
switched their lights,
and it was summer.

A picture image
engrained in my mind;
Your bracelet body
blurring my red spandex
sitting just beneath.


My locker lotion
under the sun
sparkled on my skin.

My body
whole
and young.

Change
gradually
came.

Home still sat
five minutes away,
and my friends
responded to nick names.

Memories sat
pressed in the palm
of my hand
pieces of the past
setting a precedent
for the future.