The Ice Man
By Sandra Stoner Mitchell

3000 BC

The new sky shimmered with a crystalline blush,
That gave distant mountains an ethereal hush.
The man who stood watching, not knowing the cause,
Just relished the moment and took time to pause.

The mountain was calling, demanding he go,
Before the arrival of blizzards of snow.
The other side beckoned and time wouldn't wait,
He needed to find a young woman to mate.

His tribe had been sharply declining each year;
And Elders were worried they'd soon disappear.
With man-child exceeding the girls, four to one,
Some radical measures just had to be done.

Young men began trav'ling to lands far away,
In search of a young bride to bring home to stay.
With presents to woo them and give to their kin;
They hoped for a mate, then a girl child they'd win.

~~oOo~~

With warm clothing made from the sheepskins and wool,
He checked that his food packs were loaded and full.
Now ready to start his long trek to the north,
He steadied his bundles before setting forth.

He'd journeyed for many long days and harsh nights,
When snow started falling, obscuring his sight.
Although he was tired, he had to move on
If he fell asleep now, his life would be gone.

With darkness now coming, he couldn't delay;
But tired and weary he soon lost his way.
Despairingly knowing his journey was done.
He knew he was beaten; the mountain had won.

~~oOo~~

2000 AD

A party was climbing the mountain one day
All mindful of watching the ice melt away.
Their leader saw something and told them to wait
While he took a moment to investigate.

A part of the glacier had melted, to show
A body kept hidden just under the snow.
A man with a backpack who'd journeyed this way,
How long he'd been buried there, he couldn't say.

Our man on the mountain had been found at last,
And experts are able to study his past.
The gifts he'd been bearing, the clothes he had worn,
gave insights that otherwise never would dawn.

We hope that his spirit was able to rise,
and that he met someone up there in the skies.