Room-mates

A Poem by Clara O.

We are separated by an unmoving wall that I built and you solidified

The sledgehammer hits the brick but the wall refuses to break

Every day I awake and chip away hoping you will wake up and join me

Pick up the sledgehammer in front of you

It’s lonely laying in the grass waiting to resolve us

Us

Who we are, who we want to be, who we are told to be, how to find comfort in each other, how to be friends

The next day you surprise me

I’m chipping away just like any other day and there you are

Appearing out of nowhere, with your cute shorty shorts

You stare at the bricks for a moment, assessing if destroying the wall is worth the effort

I watch as your thoughts translate into a myriad of unreadable facial expressions

My stomach starts to sink because you put the sledgehammer down

You turn and walk away from me

Did I lose you? Are you coming back? Will I be alone?

But then you stop, as if you forgot something

Are you forgetting me?

To my delight you turn around, look straight at me, and then unexpectedly shoot me one of your secret smiles

Picking up the sledgehammer like you own the world, you swing at the wall

Then I swing, then you swing, then I swing, and then we swing

Our progress shows because the bricks crash to the ground

Until the wall falls and so do our insecurities

Victoriously, we stand together on top of the heap of bricks that used to be our problems

We stand together sharing a moment and then we aren’t room…space…mates anymore,

We are roommates