Just a Bracelet

After 5th grade,

My bracelet

Was a brown bead

On a thin white string.

After 6th grade,

My bracelet

Was a green bead

On a thin white string.

These were from rituals

Of class-binding

That was half corny

And half charming.

Now,

I have two bracelets:

Pink string

For old-new friends

And blue and brown cork

For mom.

I just ripped off

The green bead

And it’s string.

No one

Has kept their bracelet

From 6th grade,

Not like in 

5th grade.

It used to be

A competition,

And a holding on,

Trying to keep our bracelets,

And our memories.

Now,

6th grade

Is just

A stepping stone

To middle school

Which is a stepping stone

To highschool

Which is a stepping stone

To college

Which is a stepping stone

To real life.

Now,

My green bead

And my thin white string

Lay on the coffee table,

And I feel

A little bit lost,

Even though

It was just a bracelet.

I know

It was coming off

Anyway,

I know

That it wasn’t really

Anything,

But it felt like it.

It feels like it.

Was it just a bracelet?