The Silver Skater

After 35 years of being gone, the middle-aged man
Returned to his beautiful Cape Breton Island home
Bringing with him his wife and his son named Dan
Memories of not so long ago welcomed him home.

Like a good Cape Bretoner, he bought new ice skates
For his son Dan who at the age of 13 wore size 11
Having never skated before, Dan was in bad straits
Totally out of his element, he longed for heaven.

Dan tried his valiant best not to fall and crack solid ice
He figured the best way to look cool was to skate on the lam
And to let the force of speed throw him like a pair of lucky dice
Stopping only when the sideboards absorbed his body slams.

After a few knockout rounds on ice, Dan hung up his skates
And joined his friends for pizza in the warming room with haste
The silent ice rink beckoned to the older man as he contemplated
Possibilities of skating in his son’s size 11 skates at the age of 58.

No longer able to resist the call of the ice, he laced on the skates
And wondered whether his youthful skating memories would return
As soon as his ice blades touched down, he skated sure and straight
With his hands clasped behind his back, he did a few cool turns.

Soon he was gliding around the rink with effortless grace
Skating forward and backward and making twisting ice burns
He then pushed his body forward to build up speed and to race
His legs and feet scissor-crossing gracefully on each fast turn.

Heads began turning to watch the lone skater on the roam
Dan and his buddies stopped their partying to ponder and look
And were amazed to see the old man flying under the ice dome
Never did a man skate so gracefully like a swan over a still brook.

The man soon tiring of his fast pace let his speed slowly abate
He eased into a more peaceful glide for a few last turns
Then quietly exited the rink to hang up his son's size 11 skates
Grateful for yet another memorable magic-on-ice return.

Hey, silver skater, there’s still a gleam in your eyes
Hey, silver skater, there’s still a smile on your face
Hey, silver skater, your shining star’s still on the rise
Hey, silver skater, you can still win the race.

Hey, silver skater, glide on, glide on!

And that silver skater was my hubby,
Harvey A. Bond, whom some of you met
At the Cajun picnic in Lafayette last April.

Written by Ipo
Rev. June 23, 2008