AUBADE II for Ötzi
by Forrest Gander
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 five thousand 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 desolation of his eyes · what did he take · for which he had no name
[NYRB April 8, 2021]
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