These halls have changed so much
since I have been away,
that I barely recognise the place.
It doesn’t feel the same.
These walls do not understand me
in the same way,
they do not understand
who I am
or where I have been
or share the memories
that we built in them.

The tiles on the floors
do not remember my footsteps,
and these are not the same corridors
that I have walked a thousand times.
They do not remember the way I would laugh
with my friends
over an inside joke
or the hard work I put in,
or the the small moments in between
that I worry I have forgotten.

They do not remember the times I cried,
or the stories that have been told
behind a beaten old locker
before it was time to go home.

They do not remember the kisses and breakups
the making up
between friends
the queues in silence before exams
or two not quite lovers holding hands.

There used to be a photo of me
upon the wall,
but now there is a blank space
no memory of me at all.
Everything has been replaced
with new people and new things
and I find myself there,
staring.

I thought that it would feel
like returning to sacred ground
overwhelmed with emotion
the band playing out
like the end of a movie,
reminiscing.

But it doesn’t.

I am a stranger
that these halls let in.

And it will never be the same again.