My Hometown

So I semi attended this online writing circle chaired by Nana. It was about creative writing. So the prompt for the day was: my hometown. I got to thinking about it. I wanted to showcase the contrast between the past and the present. And it somehow had this melancholy, sombre tone to it.

My hometown
My place of birth
Where childhood memories reside
Seremban 

Not huge and confusing and forever changing
Like its bigger cousin Kuala Lumpur
Nor small and close knitted
Where every neighbor is a friend you know by name 

Just the right size of population and development
Where there's some familiarity amidst uncertainty
Where there's friends amongst strangers
Where the new blends and complements the old

Where once traffic jams are an irregularity
It's now a growing consistency
Where old school coffee shops once filled with the thrilling of magpies
It's now a concrete landfill marked as parking

My Alma mater stood proudly against the cliff face
Now said cliff face has been leveled for further expansion
The teachers I once feared and respected
Have since relinquished their responsibilities and embraced retirement

The playground dad used to bring me to
Still stands, just lonelier
The lake garden that is the pride and joy of the town
Still stands, just less shady

My hometown
Is a small place
Yet
Is a big part within my heart

As I read this over and over again, it somehow lacks an emotional connection behind it. It started off factual and descriptory,  followed by the changes wrung by development. Yet, it felt right ending where it did. Honestly? I had no idea what else to include in it.