Ice Men
By James Longenbach
From the abundant river,
Hauls them house to house.
One falls, unseen,
The heart
Inoculated cold
Against a sky still moving.
Moving even now
Above the river,
The canal.
Willows shimmering
Across the water,
Muskrats diving out of reach.
The river whispers
Till it freezes—
A body
Twirling sluggishly
Beneath the surface as again
One stack, then
Spreads the straw.
Another falters,
Slips, or
Puts a sliver on your tongue
To feel it melting there—
The ice-lit
Underworld
Of someone else.
James Longenbach, "Ice Men"
from Draft of a Letter. Copyright © 2007 by James Longenbach.
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