Sapogi | Elizabeth Shvarts

take off your sapogi 

contralto crackles, staccato stick-letter spittle 

flying as i stand sopping slush 

on mama’s doorstep. 

it’s 30 degrees below zero and i can’t feel 

three of my toes but mama just 

creaks floor-board smile and hands me a dishrag 

so i can polish crater cheeks till 

pockmarks turn to porcelain. 

have i forgotten mama was hollow too? 

pomegranate pruned raked 

raw so i’d grow plump on a million 

seeds split ruby red she never 

buys brand name if she can help it. 

look at her now in sandpaper-shower-curtain-coat splendor

milk bottles balanced on pitcher-hips. 

take off your sapogi 

laces drip with hot-dog grease so 

mama whips out steel to catch bacon fat 

before it bloats the carpet don’t 

i know how many chemicals are in there i 

bet the meat’s not even kosher. 

mama slips grocery list under her tongue 

before BPA and BHT drip 

into my double helix strands. 

mama says she is a cavern but she doesn’t 

need to remind me my boots 

are burial ground for ribcage starved of anchor 

of glass my boots sweep 

shards under the welcome mat. 

take off your sapogi 

daughter undress this “american” this

“god bless” this star-spangled second skin are

those lipstick-smeared soles like 

molten candy like canker sores like what

kind of boy wears lipstick oh close the

door on your way out.

Elizabeth Shvarts is a award-winning writer and spoken word poet who’s performed and spoke at storied venues such as the Apollo and United Nations. An NYC Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador and finalist in Climate Speaks, a youth spoken word program, centered around climate change, her work in climate activism-driven poetry has been highlighted by PBS, the Apollo, Grist Magazine, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, The New York Times, and more. In addition to being recognized for spoken word poetry, Elizabeth has been named a National YoungArts Finalist in Play/Script for 2021, and her written work is published or forthcoming in Twin Pies Literary, Hadassah Magazine, The International Writing Program’s Between the Lines: Peace and Identity Anthology, and more. A fierce advocate for gender equity and education, Elizabeth is the co-founder and co-executive director of Bridge to Literacy an international, President’s Volunteer Service Award-certified nonprofit that fosters a love of language through literacy in underserved children from across the world. When she’s not writing, performing, or working on her nonprofit, Elizabeth enjoys biking and trying to not to burn the stove when she bakes.