POEMS
A. R. Ammons
READINGS BY WAYS
The Epicurean (and stoic) philosophers,
monists and
dualists,
are interesting (they show
that time over time
unwinds one story) but
how can I resist the creek,
stalling over depth
or breaking into shiny ramshackles
on a rise of pebbles or blurring
storm history in weed-slants
along high banks: I get
caught up in clouds illustrating
skies or muddying out: I can't
get enough of the nodding
adjustments when a squirrel
leaps onto or off branches
quaking trails : still, I
like it when the old philosopher says,
"live unknown," whole
histories unread creeks.
