things older than ice, in ascending order:
koi fish in that little pond at the mall who i never thought twice to say hello to
alex the parrot who said "be good, i love you"
me, a 90s baby
most likely you
a box of my childhood knick-knacks
the first approved contraceptive skin patch
the first draft of the human genome project
Google
knowledge of accelerating expansion of universe
the civil rights act of 1964
the wisdom of our forebears
the greenland shark, who wait to become mothers
the bristlecone pine, who has seen the rise and fall of 200 empires. or more
the honey mushroom in oregon, heftier than 200 gray whales
the glass sponge, a sister in our lineage
all of our matrilineal dna from mitochondrial eve
hydras, who know not death
ice is not inevitable
ice is not permanent
ice is not indissoluble