The poem tells a small story in which both sides are afraid. A figure, addressed as "you" and titled "Caveman," comes across overgrown ice and feels a shiver just from standing near it. Cracks spread, and when the figure reaches out, the touch melts the ice. Inside is a life that has been preserved for thousands of years. It wakes, looks at the figure, and the figure bolts. The new life, scared in turn, retreats back into the ice.
The title suggests something primitive and instinctive, and the poem reads as a story about fear of what is unfamiliar. The speaker seems to watch from outside, speaking to "you" in the present tense, which makes the scene feel immediate. The mood is cold, tense and a little sad. Something rare almost begins, but the moment of contact is too much for either side. One reading is that it's about missed connection: we reach toward something fragile, then panic when it responds. The short, plain lines keep the feeling quiet and stark, like the ice itself.