Underemployment

crosses and recrosses
  its legs on curbs and marble benches
   all over town

plays Premier league football with chipped
  mosaic tiles it stumbles across
   shuffling its nowhere circuit

violently whips
  its keychain rosary
   from hand to palm

palm to hand
  rearranges quince and citrons
   it is trying to sell to no one

from a cart tucked among a dozen such
   swooshes imaginary flies from manikins
   with a polyester cat-o’-nine-tails duster

in a store that few frequent
  in a warren of stores
   few know exist

nurses café au lait at dusk every day
  nurses the bottle of water
   that accompanies café au lait in every café

nurses a pressing thought that has not yet gelled but
  blessed be the provider
   most assuredly will
                                                   

About the Author
In addition to That hum to go by (Mammoth books), Jeff Schiff is the author of Mixed Diction, Burro Heart, The Rats of Patzcuaro, The Homily of Infinitude, and Anywhere in this Country. His work has appeared in more than a hundred publications worldwide, including The Alembic, The Cincinnati Review, Grand Street, The Ohio Review, Poet & Critic, Tulane Review, Tampa Review, The Louisville Review, Tendril, Pembroke Magazine, Carolina Review, Chicago Review, Hawaii Review, Southern Humanities Review, River City (The Pinch), Indiana Review, Willow Springs, and The Southwest Review. He is currently serving as the interim dean of the school of graduate studies at Columbia College Chicago, where he has been on faculty since 1987.