Untitled by DAVID IGNATOW

I close my eyes like a good little boy at night in bed, as I was told to do by my mother when she lived, and before bed I brush my teeth and slip on my pajamas, as I was told, and look forward to tomorrow.

I do all things required of me to make me a citizen of

sterling worth.

I keep a job and come home each evening for dinner. I

arrive at the

same time on the same train to give my family a sense

of order.

I obey traffic signals. I am cordial to strangers, I answer my mail promptly. I keep a balanced checking account. Why can’t I live forever?

From “Shadowing the Ground” by David Ignatow (Wesleyan University Press/University Press of New England: $20 cloth, $9.95 paper). 1991 by David Ignatow. Reprinted with permission.