Ice Men
One cuts blocks
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.
Copyright Credit: James Longenbach, "Ice Men" from Draft of a Letter. Copyright © 2007 by James Longenbach. Reprinted by permission of The University of Chicago Press.
Source: Draft of a Letter (The University of Chicago Press, 2007)