A. R. Ammons

Here’s an Autumn- themed poem by Archibald Randolph Ammons (February 18, 1926 – February 25, 2001), American poet who won the annual National Book Award for Poetry in 1973 and 1993.

Ammons wrote about humanity's relationship to nature in alternately comic and solemn tones. His poetry often addresses religious and philosophical matters and scenes involving nature.

Coming Clearing

A clarifying high
wind in October’s
shanky last days,

maples luminous
mounds or
glacial hills dressed

down shiny to outline:
and thickets
only darkness could travel

in, clearly
keeping nothing worth
looking for: October

winds change things,
from
the scarlet of

frost-scorched boughs
to whistling gray
branch and clatter,

readying plenty of
clarification
coming ice can seal.

--A. R. Ammons