local_library Market Forces

by Jeff Schiff

Published in Issue No. 277 ~ June, 2020
photo_camera by Photo by Ben Dutton on Unsplash
Desolation leans against a sagging wagon

        waiting for the first sale of its day

                in the Sunday market




gas fittings or fava pods

       bric-a-brac or hosiery

               It arranges and rearranges




its heaps and piles

       considers its competition

             the historic flow of foot traffic




north from the port

       and south from the new city

              how the courtyard light will drain




after noon

        when fatigue draws shoppers

               to Chez Driss for date cookies




scented with orange blossom water

       cornes de gazelle

               chebakya crusted with sesame




and twice-baked fekka

        hinting at more than a flirtation

               with vanilla liqueur


account_box More About

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.

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