Before refrigerators
people used ice in ice boxes
which were served by ice trucks
pulled by horses driven by
the ice truck driver
who wore a leather apron,
hauling ice from the ice house
to the ice box in people’s houses.

The ice from the ice house
came from the bend in the river
where every winter ice workers came
to harvest the ice with long saws
cutting up the thick ice
into big blocks to be
hauled to the ice house
by steaming horses.

Big blocks of ice were stored
covered by saw dust to hold the cold
as long as possible for summer
when ice chips would fly off the ice truck
as the ice man with his ice pick
would chisel out just enough ice
for the ice box.

There would always be a shard or two
which we were allowed to collect.
Big enough to fit in a small palm
like an icicle knife. I would freeze
my tongue on the blade to taste the cold.