A To Z

When my dad was sixteen, he bought
an A to Z of Aberdeen with the intention
of cycling every street. He marked each
road in red, of course the shade
changed slightly over the years,
but I have the completed map.
It didn't matter to him that they
constructed new roads, a bypass,
new estates, demolished one
of the bridges he had defined red.

On January first he drew a grid of
the numbers one to nine hundred
and ninety nine, searching for each
in the brand new number plates issued
by the government. Sometimes in Aberdeen
the ice can be fierce. In sixty seven
the 'E' suffix lasted only seven months,
the new date was now August first;
he often said the warm weather allowed
him to cycle later into the evening.

In his final years, he read
the gas and electric meters
every night.