11 quotes
MIRRORMENT
Birds are flowers flying
and flowers perched birds.
The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1991)
CALLING
Wind rocks
the porch chair
somebody home.
The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1991)
Trying to make a living from poetry is like putting chains on butterfly wings.
Paris Review interview (1996)
Artist should be left alone to paint or not to paint, write or not to write.
Paris Review interview (1996)
I write for love, respect, money, fame, honor, redemption. I write to be included in a world I feel rejected by.
Paris Review interview (1996)
I write the whole poem at one sitting and then come back to it from time to time over the months or years and rework it.
Paris Review interview (1996)
SMALL SONG
The reeds give way to the wind
and give the wind away
The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1991)
Poetry is everlasting. It is not going away. But it has never occupied a sizeable part of the world's business, and it never will.
Paris Review interview (1996)
I revise short poems sometimes for years, whereas, since there is no getting lost in the long poem, I engage whatever comes up in the moment and link it with its moment.
Paris Review interview (1996)
I couldn’t avoid being a poet.
Paris Review interview (1996)
THEIR SEX LIFE
One failure on
top of another
The Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons (1991)