Aubade

                                                                                              For Ötzi


Pulling the arrow’s shaft          from his own shoulder

on the east ridge with              and an axe of solid copper and

ibex meat undigested               conifer pollen, so late spring

bearskin snowshoes                 a pouch with his firelighting kit

flint flakes and a tinder conk                 the mushroom kindling an ember for hours

after he turned onto his stomach           froze & thawed & froze again

for 5,000 years              what beyond pain

did he hear as the light flickered           flickered on the mountain’s face

what entered his body                           through the ears

through the desolate desolated             desolation of his eyes

what did he take           for which he had no name





From Twice Alive (New Directions, 2021). Reprinted with the permission of the author and publisher.