Life's Nostalgia

A Poem by Jeremy V Chiew

Inspired by the ending of W. Somerset Maugham's "The Lotus Eater", this is the poem of how I see it through the fictional eyes of the fictional Thomas Wilson.

Not wanting to wake,
But still opening my eyes.
Greeting me were chirping, tweeting birds and a lake,
Greeting back were my yawns and sighs.

All around me, brown leaves are dancing
Their last waltz, tango; their last pirouette.
Alas, how cruel, fate and time are ever advancing,
Stopping abruptly when the number's up, like a game of roulette.

Now, as I look around, older and humble,
Consternation shall be mine companion and friend.
For it was this foolish boy who thought life was a rumble,
And if not for you, that would have been his thought to the very end.

Yes, you have shown me a side untold.
Who knew a love from a schoolboy could be so bold?
You took a world so blisteringly cold,
You made me happy and warm in your loving hold.

Now, I'm old and wrinkled;
Like aged paper, worn, torn and crinkled.
I look around from my old oak tree once more,
To the world I knew so well before,
Before closing my eyes forevermore...