"I" is for Ignatow

I just stumbled across this poem on the Poetry Foundation website--I've never heard of this poet, but he writes about . . . me . . . just a common person.  The few poems I read were brief, no nonsense, and to the point.  I like that in a writer.

I Close My Eyes

By David Ignatow (1914-1997) 

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?

Source: Against the Evidence: Selected Poems 1934-1994 (Wesleyan University Press, 1993)

Please click the following link for more Ignatow poetry and information:  David Ignatow .