The Man Behind the Net
In Oxford Park in NDG
the old man
sometimes
watched me
play ice hockey
from behind the net
in a foot or two of hardened snow.
As a teenager --
I had often heard the stories
about his on-ice heroics
how as a young man during World War 2
playing for the Acadia Axemen
how he’d get drunk beforehand
how he’d get into a few punch-ups
& usually score 2 or 3 goals.
The history was all there
in the scrapbooks
which my mother preserved
under lock & key
in the main bedroom trunk
& who occasionally allowed us a peek.
One evening
riled by me as a budding young star
my dad took to the ice
under the lights
in his old CCM skates.
He circled the rink
counter-clockwise
several times
& to the surprise of all of us
it was as if he was skating
around the rink
in
slow
motion.
