December 7th, 2008 / 5:43 pm
I Like __ A Lot

i like ARCHIE AMMONS a lot.

archie ammons is a dead guy who used to write poems.  he doesn’t write poems anymore because he can’t move his limbs and i think he probably doesn’t have a mind anymore either.  but when he was alive and still writing poems, he wrote book length poems, usually with each sentence separated by a colon.  of his books, i have read, ‘Glare,’ ‘Tape for the Turn of the Year,’ ‘Garbage,’ ‘Bosh and Flapdoodle,’ ‘Sphere,’ ‘Ommateaum with Doxology’ and i think one other called something like ‘the northcarolina poems.’  he wrote on receipt paper scrolls using a typewriter.  he did that because he wanted the experience of writing to seem unimportant.  i remember reading something about how when he went on a drive to another state, he unrolled the receipt scroll for his current project and took it with him because he was afraid his house would burn down while he was gone.  i understand being that paranoid but it’s usually over something like, a drawing of a horse on fire eating bacon or something unimportant.

Tags: , ,

26 Comments

  1. Justin Taylor

      we are talking about A.R. Ammons, right? I read about half of A Coast of Trees.

  2. Justin Taylor

      we are talking about A.R. Ammons, right? I read about half of A Coast of Trees.

  3. sampink

      yes, AR AMMONS. i don’t think i have read that one. some of his poems are science/nature and some are bored old man/sad old man

  4. sampink

      yes, AR AMMONS. i don’t think i have read that one. some of his poems are science/nature and some are bored old man/sad old man

  5. Justin M

      for my money, ammons contends with ashbery for best poet of latter half of 20th century. seriously. Brink Road is pretty good as well. that but about taking his adding machine tape manuscript with him was from Tape for the Turn of the Year. it’s when he went to his in-laws for the holidays. interesting that the only day in that book that he doesn’t write on is christmas day.

  6. Justin M

      for my money, ammons contends with ashbery for best poet of latter half of 20th century. seriously. Brink Road is pretty good as well. that but about taking his adding machine tape manuscript with him was from Tape for the Turn of the Year. it’s when he went to his in-laws for the holidays. interesting that the only day in that book that he doesn’t write on is christmas day.

  7. Justin Taylor

      Justin M- a bold claim, and well worth investigating for one’s self. I’ll get back to you.

  8. Justin Taylor

      Justin M- a bold claim, and well worth investigating for one’s self. I’ll get back to you.

  9. pr

      sam pink is a poet.

  10. pr

      sam pink is a poet.

  11. Kevin Sampsell

      I think a horse on fire eating bacon is pretty damn important.

  12. Kevin Sampsell

      I think a horse on fire eating bacon is pretty damn important.

  13. gena

      sam-arama

  14. gena

      sam-arama

  15. Justin Taylor

      Kevin- you would.

  16. Justin Taylor

      PS that’s a compliment, I think.

  17. Justin Taylor

      Kevin- you would.

  18. Justin Taylor

      PS that’s a compliment, I think.

  19. daniel bailey

      i like ar ammons.

  20. daniel bailey

      i like ar ammons.

  21. sam pink

      i think if someone were holding a pen to my eye and that someone said, “tell me your favorite ar ammons book or i will scratch your eye with this pen” i would say, “ok, probably tape for the turn of the year.”

  22. sam pink

      i think if someone were holding a pen to my eye and that someone said, “tell me your favorite ar ammons book or i will scratch your eye with this pen” i would say, “ok, probably tape for the turn of the year.”

  23. Blake Butler

      could i just buy the collected poems? i have been meaning to get ammons stuff but have not yet

  24. Blake Butler

      could i just buy the collected poems? i have been meaning to get ammons stuff but have not yet

  25. sam pink

      i am not sure what is in the collected poems, but i really think “glare” “tape for the turn of the year” and “garbage” are worth it and maybe some of the stuff in “bosh and flapdoodle”

  26. sam pink

      i am not sure what is in the collected poems, but i really think “glare” “tape for the turn of the year” and “garbage” are worth it and maybe some of the stuff in “bosh and flapdoodle”