A. R. Ammons

A.R. Ammons (1926-2001) Archibald Randolph was born in rural North Carolina. His experiences growing up on a cotton and tobacco farm during the Great Depression inspired a great deal of his poetry. He earned a BA from Wake Forest University and an MA in English from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York from 1964 to 1998.

Salute

May happiness

pursue you,

catch you

often, and,

should it

lose you,

be waiting

ahead, making

a clearing

for you

— A. R. Ammons