The Return

by Edith L. Tiempo
If the dead years could shake their skinny legs and run
As once he had circled this house in thirty counts,
He would go thru this door among these old friends and they would not shun
Him and the tales he would tell, tales that would bear more than the spare
Testimony of willed wit and his grey hairs
He would enter among them, the fatted meat about his mouth,
As he told of how he had lived on strange boats on strange waters
Of strategems with lean sly winds,
Of the times death went coughing like a sick man on the motors,
Their breaths would rise hot and pungent as the lemon rinds
In their cups and sniff at the odors
Of his past like dogs at dried bones behind a hedge,
And he would live in the whispers and locked heads.
Wheeling around and around and turning back was where he started:
The turn to the pasture, a swift streak under a boy's running;
The swing, up a few times and he had all the earth he wanted;
The tower trees, and not so tall as he had imagined;
The rocking chair on the porch, you pushed it and it started rocking,
Rocking, and abruptly stopped. He, too, stopped in the doorway, chagrined.
He would go among them but he would not tell, he could be smart,
He, an old man cracking bones of his embarrassment apart.

Identify the tone of the poem?

The poem is all about an old man reminiscing in his mind about the glory days of
his youth, his adventures on the sea and such. He fantasizing about dining with some
people who have died and thinking of what it would be like to tell them of the exploits of
his life. But, he is brought back to the reality that they are not there so he can't tell them
these thoughts. He is embarrassed that someone might have witnessed him thinking of
his glory days and his old friends. The poems main point is you should cherish every
moment.

How does the poem achieve this central idea?

Basically it reflects how an individual from erection to resurrection or the moment
we are born up to the last breath of our breath. The man reminisce every moment of
being a youth and describes how he cherish every moment of his life. In life he also
compare the things around him like the water up to things that could compare to death.

What is this "Return"?

I think it means reminiscing the past, because sometimes we experience weird
things in life, whether its sad or happy experience and we get this kind of feeling that we
want to go back in time and then we get excited or happy every time we talk about it.
We create memorable experience that we keep thinking about it again and again.
Because sometimes going back to the past is the only way to get that feeling.

"Ang Piso"
"Malalaki dati ang barya ng piso. Mas malaki pa sa sampung piso ngayon,

kasing laki ng takip ng Vicks o ng takip garapon ng enervon. Ganun rin kalaki ang
halaga ng piso noon. Noon marami na ang nabibili ng isang piso. Busog na busog ka na
sa rami ng chichirya na mabibili mo. Noon naalala ko pa, isang piso pa lang ang
pamasahe sa tricycle, kung bata ka ay singkwenta sintemos. Pati sa mga dyip ay piso
rin ang pamasahe. Ngayon subukan mong magbayad ng piso sa dyip ehhh baka
pagulungin ka. Naaala niyo pa ng apat na kendi yung nabibili ng isang piso. Apat na
maxx na pula yun. Tuwang tuwa ako noon pag may apat akong maxx. Ngayon isang
piso na, swerte pag may nagbebenta pa ng dalawang piso para sa tatlong maxx. Yung
cotton candy.
Isang cone ng ice cream. May dalawa ka na ring chichirya noon, yung may
kasamang action figure na gawa sa plastic o goma. Yung sa amin gundam yun.
Madalas ako bumili ng marami noon tapos laro kami ng tira-tira pag masapol mo yung
action figure ng isa, sayo na yun, depende rin sa pusta. Anim na holens yung nabibili ng
piso. Walong maliliit na teks at apat naman kung malalaki. Apat na mik-mik at choconut.
Tatlong cellophane ng bobot. Labing anim na pink na bubble gum na nagpapapink ng
dila. Dalawang pintura bubble gums. Plastic balloons. Dalawang piraso ng polvoron na
kung swerte ka may isang piso na prize. Dalawang tsansa para bumugot ng numero sa
mga prizes. Puede ka ring manalo ng manok. Dalawampung rubber bands. At sampung
piraso ng papel."