So, hey. Random poem. Not usual genre. Just wanted to post it. Meh.
I don't usually write poetry but
It seems a good way to
Organise my thoughts
Into words
The first time I saw her
With her burnished copper hair
Illuminous green eyes
And paint spattered across her cheeks like multicoloured freckles
I wanted to say something eloquent
Or witty
Or even just polite
Anything except 'Why are you covered in paint?'
In a way so blunt
It makes me wince to think about it
Even now
But she only smiled
Instead of being offended
Like anyone else would've been
And I think that made her even more beautiful
In my eyes
She introduced herself as my roommate
And apologised about the mess
As if I'd even noticed
The boxes spilling everywhere around us
And the books stacked haphazardly
Against the bathroom door
When she was stood in front of me
She looked down at my t-shirt
Which was proudly emblazoned
With the Eye of Sauron
And took my hand gently
To pull me deeper into our new room
And show me
Her Lord of the Rings posters
Of which there were so many
That even I was impressed
She blushed as she looked at me
Colour blooming across her pale cheeks
As she admitted
That she had painted some herself
And I blushed in return
As I admitted
I could not tell the difference
Because they were all so spectacular
And that night
We sat on our separate beds
Talking late into the night
And pelting each other with sweets
While we howled with laughter
We discovered that
We were both giant nerds
As if we didn't already know that
And that she was an Art student
While I studied English
So when Saturday rolled around
And the air was alive with the sounds of parties
And the smell of people celebrating life
We stayed in our room together
Curled up on her bed
And watched Doctor Who
With a box of chocolates
And a glass of red wine in each hand
I attended my classes
With my clothes smelling of her
Because I had run out of washing powder
And with a smile
She lent me hers
And joked about how
She should start charging me
Because she would make a fortune
From my forgetfulness
That night we sat in companionable silence
On our laptops
While music blasted
Through a pair of shared headphones
And we ate microwaveable lasagne
That we had burned
Because we were too busy debating
Whether Batman or Sherlock would solve a crime first
If we pitted them against each other
Online I sent a message
To the pseudonym I had spent
My nights messaging
For so many years
The light from my laptop
Hidden from my parents
With a mountain made of duvet
They always left lengthy comments on my writings
That made my heart soar
And they drew gorgeous art for them
Colours spilling across the page
Exactly how I imagined
Bright eyes
Sharp faces
And our names interlocked in the corners
I apologised for not messaging them recently
Explaining I had gone to University
And that I had been busy
With classes and one or two new friends
They congratulated me
And said they were glad to hear it
Even though we knew nothing about each other
Not our real names or our genders or even where we lived
We had just those two pseudonyms
And a plethora of inside jokes
That never failed to make me laugh
I inquired after them
And they told me that they were happier
Than they had ever been
Their courses were going well
And they even had a crush
On a girl
They had only just met
They hastily followed with 'You don't think that's weird, right?
Because I'm a girl too
And she might not even be gay'
And I responded to her
(While I jumped with excitement
About knowing something more
About this distant friend of mine)
That it was fine by me
Because who was I to be close-minded
One day
My roommate fell ill
And was bedridden for days
I drove her to the hospital
In my beaten up car
That was falling apart at the seams
(Rather like me)
When the doctor told her
Why she was ill
We both laughed in relief
And fixed her vitamin D deficiency
With lunchtimes reading beneath the sun
And melting ice cream spilling between our fingers
Weeks passed
And my roommate came to me
With tear tracks smearing the paint on her cheeks
Clutching my bloodied razors in both hands
And haunted questions in her green eyes
My heart stopped right then
Because I knew she hated clichés
And what is more cliché
Than a tortured writer
I must have looked like
A deer caught in the headlights
Because she dropped the razors
On my dragon-covered duvet
Wrapped me in a hug
And whispered
That everything would be alright
And I didn't fix immediately
Because no one ever does
But she gave me more reasons to smile
Than I even knew what to do with
So I tucked them away
For when I needed them most
And brought them out
When the darkness threatened to drown me
My writing got so much better
That my fans loved it
The viewing swelled
The comments got nicer
And even my professors commented
That I was going up in the world
But I couldn't let my roommate see my classwork
Because my original stories
Suddenly always contained
A girl with burnished copper hair
Illuminous green eyes
Multicoloured freckles
And a warm smile
Who burned like a supernova
Against the dark night sky
And who improbably
Impossibly
Fell in love
With a broken soul
Who was invisible next to her
Burning up
Like a dark star
Silhouetted against the light of a supernova
In turn I agreed
To never look at her artwork
Because she said it was private
An expression of her soul
Spilled out over paper
And I could appreciate that
Because what is writing
If not your mind vomiting
It's innermost thoughts
All over the clean white page
We never showed off our fan work to each other
Because we agreed it was too dorky
Even for us
Who could debate how best to kill a man
And hide his body
With quotes from our favourite TV shows
That we watched together
In appreciative silence
Whenever they were on
Grinning at each other
As we sang the themetunes
At the top of our voices
Loud enough that the whole world could hear us
I posted a new story last week
A one-shot
A snapshot of time
Where my two favourite characters admitted
That they were in love
A supernova
And a burning dark star
And even without any description of the pair
Beyond their words
My pseudonymed friend
Painted them
As a girl with burnished copper hair
Green eyes
And multicoloured freckles
And a girl
Who looked exactly
Just like me
I leave this poem here tonight
On the Internet
For the whole world to see
Under the title
'Two who are one'
Because even though
It may seem sad
Or lonely
That my two closest friends
May actually be one person
I hope it is true
Because then they would both be
Within my reach
The hipsters like to say
That you fall in love the way you fall asleep
Slowly
And then all at once
And if that is true
I am an insomniac
Or at least
I thought I was
But perhaps my eyes slipped closed
Without my permission
And how wonderful dreaming turned out to be
Tomorrow
I will act as if everything is normal
I will be cranky before coffee
And I will let my roommate
Wrap me in a scarf
As I head out the door
I will sit through my lectures
And greet the librarian
With the same fond resentment
As I do everyday
I will divide my jelly babies at lunch
And let my roommate have all the red ones
Because those are her favourites
And I like to see her smile
But if my psuedonymed friend
Confirms my crazy guess
As correct
Then I will go home
As I do everyday
And we will dance around
As we burn our tea
Eat it curled up together
On the sofa
As we watch a film
With a glass of red wine in each hand
And I will turn to my roommate and say
I love you
And she will respond with
I know
Not because she is harsh or cruel
But because it is a quote
From Star Wars
And that is how
I will know
That she loves me
Too
-This poem was written because
I didn't realise
Those drinks contained alcohol
And if they didn't
Well
Maybe those mushrooms were magic
After all
