Poetry, Elizabeth Shvarts
Swirling latte art. little kicks under the table and hand squeezes from above to remind each other you are object permanence. you are a dream worth gambling on. you are so damn lucky to occupy this coffee shop corner this wooden chair this glance you are so goddamn lucky. do you know the universe is betting on you? i don’t believe in god but i believe in the creases of her smile the way light seems to dance across her irises she’s in a million universes and i have the fortune to be in one and time is an abandoned concept and the latte art is nothing but a speck of foam but her pinky is still intertwined with mine and she’s smiling and how lucky. how lucky
Elizabeth Shvarts is a poet, performance artist, and advocate hailing from Staten Island. The 2022 NYC Youth Poet Laureate, 2022 YPL Northeast Regional Ambassador, and 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador, Elizabeth is a lifelong writer with the steadfast belief that joy is our birthright. Additionally, she is a 2022 Lucille Lortel Playwriting Fellow, and 2021 National YoungArts Finalist in Play/Script who continues to act in and produce theatre during her time at Yale University. Her work is featured in and/or has been performed at The New Yorker, PBS, Kennedy Center, the United Nations, the Apollo, Lincoln Center, NY1, Grist Magazine, the MacDowell Foundation, The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Alliance for Climate Education, and more.