i lived here once.
not only in zabys and pixels,
but in friendship, desire, laughter,
jealousy, madness and love.
after a long time away,
i came back and walked through the old places again.
queen of spades.
roses paradise.
blue lotus.
captain club.
dark castle.
old places.
old music.
old ghosts.
it felt like walking through the streets
of a town where another version of me once lived.
the strange thing was not that i remembered.
it was discovering
how real those memories still felt.
the places were virtual.
the feelings were not.
so much has changed.
so have i.
and among all those memories,
one person left deeper traces than the others.
she gave me places to belong,
roses to wear,
a collar,
a family,
a thousand memories,
and a part of myself
i might never have discovered without her.
some things ended.
some things simply changed.
but something does not become unreal
just because it became the past.
her roses are no longer on my skin.
but some of them stayed somewhere deeper.
people left.
doors closed.
some found other worlds.
and still, walking through it all,
i smiled.
because once,
this crazy little world mattered enormously to me.
i don't live here anymore.
but i remember it with affection.
and every now and then,
an archaeologist returns to the ruins.
