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he Really Short Poems of A. R. Ammons,
by A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), begin,
A day without rain is like
a day without sunshineA light pause at the line break, so we expect “a life without pain” or some such,
veers elsewhere. Days have their way with us, we gather, and any day matters,
any weather.
“Small Song” touches off ecologic revelation.
The reeds give
way to the
wind and give
the wind away
While an oak breaks in the wind, says the old parable, reeds bend. They have
much to say, like the moves that words can make. Shorter than “Western Wind,”
this pun of a poem turns simple to subtle, “give / way to the / / wind” flips to
“give / the wind away,” hinging an invisible force onto human awareness. As
Ammons gives away his own gaze, an (in)verse wordplay proves the two events
belong to one whole.
Another windy hinging poem has the limber rhythms of William Carlos
Williams.
“What are you doing out here / this windy”
Wind in the Reeds in the Voice of A. R. Ammons
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