The Bagel; David Ignatow

The Bagel

David Ignatow

I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.


My initial reaction to this poem was thinking why a man would be chasing a bagel and how come he felt happy after falling down. Well when I really thought about it I felt that each person does something silly once in a while. This man was chasing his bagel and then began to roll too. I think that the rolling could mean that he literally started rolling but i also think that metaphorically it means he just rolled with the punches of having to go out of his way to get his bagel back.
My second reaction to the poem was that the man was having a nice morning like most working men and he had stopped to get a bagel on his way to work. Then he had dropped the bagel, where the poem says, “for having dropped it as if it were a portent”, meaning that he was foreshadowing having a bad day as he began to run after the bagel. It seemed as though he was getting so angry as he was chasing the bagel that he had almost given up. I think the bagel rolling down the hill and him rolling with it means that the bagel was his day and him rolling with it down hill means that his day was going down hill as in just having an off day and not really enjoying the day for what it was.
My other interpretation of this poem was again that the bagel was symbolic of his day and that even though days have ups and downs people should be proud at the end of the day for doing everything that they can to remain on top.