SOME KIND OF OPENING // BACK

POETRY
Winter Poem
Ryan Cook

Bundle into me. I wish to warm

your neck and toes. I wish to float

down windy streets. I wish to fight

off empty sighs.

Unzip me at the door
as you take off your gloves and turn me soft; at the fridge
as you taste and taste; at the shower walls
as we wash off the cold and feel nothing but water and bodies.

​

Reach for me. I will

sometimes reach back.
I will try my best to reach back

eventually.

​

And when I do, dawn will
break too early and set too late. We will
light up the rickety walls. We will
remove these layers and watch how our bodies heat this mess of a room.

Ryan Cook is a genderqueer Brooklyn-based poet/playwright currently getting their MFA in poetry at Columbia University. They have been published in No.2 Mag as well as Thimble Literary magazine. They perform and intern at the Bowery Poetry Club, helping new poets and writers perform in open mics and private events.