Kwaday Dan Sinichi
(Long Ago Man Found)

They have found
the body of a man
over five hundred years old,
preserved as if mummified,
literally frozen in time.

He was a hunter,
carrying primitive spears and tools,
one still clutched in his hand.
He fell down a crevice
in the rocks
where ice embalmed him
in his hunting pose,
weapon ready to use
just before his fall.

Even his clothing
is intact—he is dressed
in an outfit
made from animal skins.
He was found by chance;
three men out hunting
discovered his frozen form.

At the millennium
the hunter has come home
to our collective hearts,
in full colour on television;
he has waited a long time
for his spirit to be released:
hand raised, in media res,
inert in action.

He is a sign for our times,
a blessing. In the transience
of everyday, we forget
the history of human life
and cannot see the future.
Now this forgotten man
lives in each of us
and we are also in action
yet waiting
to be gathered home,
the future ready to spring
from our bones.

Copyright by Carolyn Zonailo: www.carolynzonailo.com, 2004