OLD MAN

call him neighbour
friend, teacher
Scoutmaster
but call him Sir

forty years of
helping,
inventions
silent support

assist a child
build a house
fix a leak
bandage a pet

light a campfire
catch a fish
take the time
for cookies and tea

his only enemy:
Age

receding hairline
encroaching forgetfulness
the soldier-straightness
bent

the final bludgeon
a disease
erodes the mind
man-child now

generations of this town
still call him
Sir

Dedicated to the memory of Neil Alexander "Downie" McLennan who died of Alzheimer's disease in June, l982.

This poem originally appeared in Between Beaver and Athapap: a Northern Anthology published by the Flin Flon Writers Guildand also in the book U>City on the Rocks, Lighthouse Publishers (2002)