Writing Exercise Piece

Here's a writing exercise. I asked for a random lyric from a random song and used it as a jumping off point for a piece of writing. The random lyric I was given was 'I'll be the rubber band'. I have no idea what song it is from but I used it as a jump off point for this piece of writing.

"I'll Be the Rubber Band"

There's a rubber band—

Tight against my wrist,

A loop of tension,

Stretched between what I see

And what I wish I didn’t.

What I know and what I didn't.

You can't really see this band,

I wonder if you know it's there.

Each choice you make, each plate you fill—

It snaps against my skin,

Hard.

A sting that says, “You had a choice, and you chose this.”

I feel it, sharp and sudden—

The bite of knowing, the pull of caring,

Red marks left where silence meets sorrow.

Each menu page I give a recommendation.

"Try this," I say,

Pointing at the green leaf icon.

But your finger lands—

Not on possibility,

But on habit,

On harm.

A sharp ping—

Elastic biting skin,

Marking me more than the moment.

You don’t see it.

Talk about flavors,

Memories,

Traditions—

And I wonder,

How you taste joy on your plate?

That sees you smile and laugh

with body parts stuck in your teeth.

I don’t say it.

Not this time.

What’s the point,

When my silence is already filled with bruises?

But meal time only lasts so long.

Between fork clinks,

You said something that I'd normally laugh at.

That reminded me why we get along.

We almost shared a world.

But the red mark remains—

Fainter,

Then darker,

Layering over itself

With every pull.

I trace the lines it leaves—

A tally of every quiet sting,

Every 'just one bite,'

Every 'you do you, I’ll do me.'

Every 'Can’t you let it go?'

But I can't.

Because they can’t.

Live and let live only works if they're allowed to live.

And so, I stretch—

For you,

For this—

For the hope that one day,

You’ll see the band on my wrist.

The red mark as you're about to order.

Suddenly notice how far away I am from you.

In that moment, in that place.

But rubber doesn’t last forever.

It frays—

Weakens—

Until—

Snap.

Then I'll be the rubber band.