To the quiet ones
Who looked at me
With kindness in their eyes
And showed me by example.

I’ve known some brilliant men
Men of accomplishment
Men of impressive words
Men of science
Billionaires
Rebels with a cause
Men proud of their spiritual insight
I’ve known fantastic adventurers
Who climbed peaks or sailed oceans
But the ones who changed my life
Were the quiet ones
Who labored beside me
When there was work to be done
When there were lakes to be paddled
And canoes humped over portages.

Ken Jones, mountaineer, Nanton Alberta.
You touched my soul man of beauty.
Jim Winniandi, Fort Smith
Metis, part Chipewyan, part white
Who ran the fire crew when I was sixteen.
In the bush near Great Slave Lake
You didn’t talk much
I still see the kindness
In your eyes when I needed it
But didn’t deserve it.
You touched my soul man of kindness.

Not particularly ambitious
Other than to do quality work.
Understanding, tolerant
Men who lived simply, men of big hearts
A deep inner reserve, serene
Smiles, wrinkles and calloused hands.
Men who saw beauty
Who made time for beauty.

I passed through your lives
Men of nature
On the edges of civilization
I was looking for something
Not sure what.
You had the answers I was looking for.
But didn’t know it.

I look back now on the decades
And think that when my life strayed
Out of kilter, off balance
It’s been when I thought
Your example didn’t apply to me.

(The irony is
You are too understanding and tolerant
Too non-judgmental
To write a poem
That puts kindness on a pedestal.
You said what you had to say
Quietly,
Without words).
- Roderick MacIver