Yarn, Rainbow Colored

Take an end, say your name
and toss the ball to somebody across the circle
Yarn, rainbow colored
Our twelfth grade selves couldn't help but grin at the task
But it helped us forget the heat for a time

Remember in kindergarten...
Suddenly I did
Faint, but I remember catching it, proudly proclaiming my name and throwing it to the cute girl opposite me
Heh, puppy love they call it – her name was Brianna
I think
I don't remember the other names now
Don't need to be introduced to those quietly but firmly stating theirs now

Slowly, the cobweb assembled
No, not a cobweb, a dreamcatcher
They taught us to make those in the 2nd grade
...or was it 3rd? 4th?
I still have one made of rainbow yarn in my desk drawer
Funny what places become sanctuary for our treasures

A voice cracked

Regained itself quickly
Not quickly enough to stop the summer's sudden, stuborn re-entry into the room
We completed our task

The string is the connections and memories you've made these past thirteen years
I stared into the yarn, trying not to make eye contact
You are the points that link them
The air was thick, wet and salty

He took a pair of scissors from his desk

And so you don't need the physical connection anymore

We passed the shears around and with sweaty hands
let fall our strands
And although we knew we didn't need them, knew that we had lost them
Each length was pocketed
Because it was our life