The Lunchbox Poem by Saul Eldon

When you reach a certain age
Life hands you a gaudy gift wrapped box to hold
Filled with your memories, all complete.
Too late then to add new to old
Like a pre-packed lunch to pick at
Some bits tasty, some bitter sweet
Most just sour and all stone cold

And hour by hour they feed anew
An appetite that's grown stale and old
This is the room you live in now
Recalling what you said and what you heard
The approving words and gentle smiles
The accusing looks and bitten backs
The meetings, betrayals, the muttered denials

And all the faces pass and pass
Some you knew, a few you wish you never had
Recalling their laughter or ready tears
A girl you shared a sin with behind closed doors
To lie about later to those who mattered
A job of work done well or bad
The pleasures and pains, the losses, the gains

And all the fuss over sex that came and went
Like a through express that passed you by
Till withered and faded lust lost its hold
Now you'd trade it all for a good night's sleep
And always the regrets that stand legion
By your shoulder, wait to nudge and prod
The conscience you can never quite silence