I constructed a paradise in a polluted mind to balance myself on the edge. A paradise that was toxic, yet the kind that slowly burns away at the soul. I was in denial when you left, I forged a future of us that I collapsed myself within. This processing was slow for me as I helplessly grew tight vines around the idea that you’ll be back, but you never did. Every photo of us were kept in the back of my folders, neatly preserving beautiful memories of you that dissolved into corruption. I sought emptiness through endless sleeps, because in my mind emptiness was better than dealing with the destructive truth.