Best Poems Written by Janna Neyenhaus

Elastic Band

An elastic band
Held between two fingers.
His index, and mine.
He takes a few steps backwards,
Gently stretching the fragile ring between us,
Testing its strength from either direction.
Two forces, working together
And against each other, at the same time.

The action is simple and mindless
It takes no thought. None.
I watch it expand in a captivated daze,
As if from far away.
The rubber pinches my fingertips
As the elastic tightens.
I stand still on the other end, never moving.
Be he takes another step.
He stretches it farther.

I feel the pull, there is restraint.
The band gradually becomes weaker, weaker
Until it begins to fray.
The distance between us gets wider,
The bonds separating, silently losing hold.
The tear invisible at first.

He's still backpedaling,
The band is still stretching.
But yet one can sense the end is near.
I still stand silent,
Anticipating the moment the band will stretch no longer.
I count backwards, make a bet in my head
Holding my breath, clinging to what's left,
Staring at the band with worried eyes.
Too scared to admit what he's doing,
And knowing I can do nothing.
He could break the elastic, or break something bigger.
But I don't step forward, closer.
We both watch it.
He is moving steadily but I am frozen
Where I am.
The band is strong but delicate.
And there is no way to stop fate.

Finally, I shoot him a warning,
A meaningless thing.
Somehow he already knows in the back of his mind,
But he can't stop now.
I know what will happen, I await the sting.
He knows that he could get hurt.
But not once does it cross his mind
That it might sting me, as well.
He holds it there, hooked around his finger,
And feels the power in his palm.
No matter what happens now,
What is done is done.
Once the band is stretched,
It cannot return to its original shape.

I stare at it in expectancy,
The snap is inevitable.
Suspense dangles on the edges
Tingling on my fingertips
I'm powerless to stop the force.
For a moment, he breaks his stride,
Pauses to glance at me.
I watch his eyes, watching me.
I hold my breath
I don't blink.
I can see that there is one 
Split second of regret.
Then he looks away.

An elastic band
Can only take so much pull
Before it breaks.
He doesn't want to hurt me.
He doesn't.
I know this in my heart.
But he still stretches it farther, farther.

I never say
What I need to say,
What he doesn't know,
What he needs to hear.
I never get a chance 
To tell him,
To tell him that I love him.

Copyright © Janna Neyenhaus | Year Posted 2019