NANCY COOK

FALL/WINTER 2020 ISSUE #01 POET

Nancy Cook runs “The Witness Project,” a program of free community writing workshops in Minneapolis to enable creative work by underrepresented voices. In 2019, she was the Fermanaugh & Omagh International Artist-in-Residence in Northern Ireland where she worked with people affected by the sectarian conflict known as “The Troubles.” Some of her newest work can be found in The Tangerine, Existere, and the Michigan Quarterly Review.

GULF OYSTERS ARE DYING

I marvel at the mystery:
a cave small enough 
to fit inside my palm –

timeless
the ebb and surge
of oceans sweeping 

through, 
rock ’n rolling:
a creation story

I love each Shrove mask,
mouth in a pearly pout,  
temptingly creviced

It’s what we all crave:
some dark hollow,
hint of iridescence

soft white gelid tongue,
reaching climax
taste of salt and brine –

But now the hosts 
are vulnerable 
the sacrament is dying: 

spillways, fresh-water 
flush, have released
caged storms –

Torrents of record 
snows & century rains,
rush tranquil oyster

beds. I mourn the loss  
of transgendered beauty,
its perfect regeneration