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      October 17, 2019SustenanceRoy Jacobstein

      They seem a little molecule of calm
      in a charged field of gray clicking,
      this raggedy couple holding hands
      while tossing handfuls of pretzel bits
      like ticker tape into converging coveys
      on Broadway & 43rd. Doesn’t she know
      they have the worst Glycemic Index
      of any snack food, even pork rinds?
      And he’s as oblivious to the people
      breezing by on foot & bike & skate
      & the nuclear news looming in neon
      overhead as the pigeons to the havoc
      those morsels wreak on waistlines.
      But they’re content in their self-absorbed
      way, & when I pivot
      my head I cannot see anybody else
      offering the promise of sustenance,
      so I waddle over to them, start pecking.

      from #28 - Winter 2007

      Roy Jacobstein

      “In addition to writing poetry, I am a physician who works internationally in Africa and Asia on women’s reproductive health.”