after work - Casey Epstein-Gross

i allow you

to zip me down

to the organs

and your fingers blunder

feeling

like an apology

like a debt

you allow me

to zip you up

in your sleeping bag

breathing evening out

feeling

like a handshake

like currency

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Casey Epstein-Gross is a student at Wesleyan University, where she was recently awarded the Sophie and Anne Prize for Poetry. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals, including Sugar House Review, Soundings East, Permafrost, and Thin Air Magazine.