Sign-In
Cart
Sustenance
Paperback
Publisher: Luchador Press
Published: Aug 3 2026
Pages: 102
Weight: 0.24
Height: 0.24 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Such a good premise for a book. These poems are meant to be digested, fully taken in and savored, some bite-sized, some full course meals, all with tribute to what sustains and nourishes us, what brings us joy or keeps us alive. The poems start with Eve eating the apple, then move to a Sappho Dessert Pizza and the History of Croissants and the Molasses Explosion in Boston and then to the History of Bagels. The book also features the image poem's artful directions for How to Eat a Pomegranate. Throughout this book I'm reminded of Käthe Kollwitz's lithograph Bread in which a mother evokes the constant struggle to feed her kinder, her children, even if it involves sacrificing herself. So, sit down. Eat. We all need more of the sustenance found in this book.
In her newest poetry collection, Sustenance, Eve Rifkah delivers a sumptuous and decadent feast of words and images, blending colors, flavors, textures and history into a buffet of treats that satisfy body and soul. Transporting us from tables laden with seasonal bounty and advice on baking for those we love, to pizza worthy of Dante's Inferno, Rifkah presents platters of eloquence and mouth-watering goodness. These are poems for every season, every harvest. The unbridled joy of a farmer's market blends with the want for things beyond our means, yet on every page, in every poem, gratitude. And then, a romp through the history of iconic foods, with enormous respect for the passage of time and method that made them cornerstones of our culinary heritage. This is a collection that comes from the heart of tradition, experience, and respect.
Lex Thomas, Writer, former Caterer, Owner, Chez Desiree, Inc.
Eve Rifkah knows her way around the kitchen ... and the heart. Both are intertwined in Sustenance as the poet examines the ways in which food is linked with history, memory, love, and the dangers and rewards of (and the obstacles to) human connection. While the culinary lens anchors the collection with a dazzlingly sensual focus, Rifkah highlights a broad range of themes, including loneliness (Pasta Again), people experiencing houselessness (What Could She Do), and the realm of sham health remedies (In the Land of Oz). Whether as historian/chronicler (Eating the Enemy the history of croissants, Sliced Bread), instructor passing on hard-earned knowledge to an imagined reader/apprentice (Nurturing the Heart, How to Eat a Pomegranate) or poem's principal subject (Still Life with Oranges, Today at the Farmers Market), Rifkah's poise extends beyond phrasing. Her purposeful line breaks and spacing as well her sculpting of the words into pictorial components on the page complicate, even radicalize, the relationship between text and page. Moving with precision and care, like a true master chef, through the kitchen of poetry, Eve Rifkah has given us a lyric Babette's Feast, a delicate yet luscious, feast for the senses and the soul. Come, all ye, and partake!
-Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, author of Night Breaks in the Garret: Poems and Peregrinations
Also from
Rifkah, Eve
Also in
General Poetry
Dante's Vita Nuova, New Edition: A Translation and an Essay
Alighieri, Dante
Pitavy, Francois
Paperback
Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse (by the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature)
Carson, Anne
Paperback
The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos (by the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature)
Carson, Anne
Paperback
Decreation: Poetry, Essays, Opera (by the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature)
Carson, Anne
Paperback
Sounding the Seasons Enlarged Edition: One Hundred and Ten Sonnets for the Christian Year
Guite, Malcolm
Paperback
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Lao Tzu
Paperback
A Bowl of Goodness: Nourishing Poems with a Side of Soup, Celebrating Community, Friendship, and Resilience
Jackson, Major
Hardcover
Ariel: The Restored Edition: A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement
Plath, Sylvia
Paperback