Sustenance

red flowers for the
hummingbird

tiny pink sprays
for honeybees

(coffee, pastry,
food-words,
unfettered time)

and sparrows come,
jet-eyed and darting,
for crumbs

Steve Brisendine lives, works and remains unbeaten against The New York Times crossword in Mission, Kansas. He is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently full of old books and silence (Alien Buddha Press, 2024). His work has appeared in Modern Haiku, I-70 Review, Flint Hills Review and other publications and compilations. He has no degrees, one tattoo and a deep and unironic fondness for strip-mall Chinese restaurants. In his spare time, he tries to make himself seem far more interesting than he actually is.