Ice Gathering

not there or here
upstream the Hudson river
watch the irregular flow

walk down to bank from
grassy slope together
the surface water filmed by slough of
trees – late summer after all

to the empty ice house
visitors like us read plaque on
wooden wall
smell breath of mid-winter horses
the chink of splinter

piece together
transparent fragments
our September resolution

later the phrase
‘all doubts are now at an end’
reassures – there will be ice!
record harvest of 1879 filling every hold
from Manhattan to Albany