One Definition

I amuse myself by studying the cars in the street, the figures walking alongside, the shape of trees, the patterns formed by buildings against the sky--quiet enjoyment. How does one make a poem of this? A lift of the language, a strong rhythm infusing a phrase shaped suddenly out of the silence when enjoyment is quiet. Looking into myself, I see, beside this need of gazing a need to speculate, an anxiousness to be something other than I am at this moment. What is it to enjoy oneself? It is like taking milk at the breast, but when one strikes at the breast and grins up toothlessly in the mother’s face it evokes a smile in return and laughter in pride that you are not simply content to feed.

From “The Southern California Anthology,” Vol. V (Professional Writing Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90089: $5.95, paper; 138 pp.), edited by Andrew Ragan and Cherilyn Cummings. David Ignatow has published 14 books of poetry and prose, the latest of which is “New and Collected Poems: 1970-1985.” His “The One in the Many: A Poet’s Memoirs” will be published in October by Wesleyan University Press.