Roommates
hb collins
Slither softly, into the crack where the bed
meets the wall and the wall meets the corner,
where the roof has molded, caging you in the lonely
whispers of a winter midnight, your very own plaster coffin.
Let tranquil weeping fall on the ears of your ghosts
and the palms of your demons, who wait just as eagerly
as you to your phone, where you pray to a god
you don’t believe in, for just one text. You check location
after location, app after app, desperate, yet still knowing
that neither of them ever cared as much as you tried to for
them. Their empty beds drive you mad in the impenetrable
silence of your dorm room, but even now, the spirits
of their cruel words linger. The armor of your layered
blankets make you confuse sweat for tears, as you steam
in your sorrows for yet another sleepless night.
As you shut your eyes, reviving the sting of exhaustion
you wasted on foes masquerading as friends,
you realize you no longer care
whether or not they’ll come home
HB Collins
Haley Butzer-Collins, also known as HB Collins, is a first generation college student perusing an English Creative Writing Degree at Flagler College in St. Augustine with dreams of teaching and novelwriting. She is a member of The Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society and frequents Flagler College Open Mic Nights. Her work was displayed in Flagler College's Collections Showcase, as well as the Anual St. Augustine Poetfest in 2023. When she isn’t writing or updating her blog, she can be found playing Dungeons and Dragons or Baldurs Gate 3, befriending wizards in game, and trying to convince herself and her little sister that bringing home another sword is absolutely within her budget. Haley will be graduating Flagler College in spring of 2026.