{"id":66911,"date":"2014-02-18T18:45:57","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T23:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=66911"},"modified":"2014-02-18T18:34:27","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T23:34:27","slug":"business-as-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/18\/business-as-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Business as Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The poet A. R. Ammons was born on this day in 1926.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ammons\"<\/a>

Photo: East Carolina University<\/p><\/div>\n

INTERVIEWER<\/p>\n

I know that you worked in your father-in-law\u2019s biological glass factory as a vice president in charge of sales. Were you interested in the work or was it dull?<\/p>\n

AMMONS<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t dull. I have a poem somewhere explaining how running a business is like writing a poem. In business, for example, you bring in the raw materials and then subject them to a certain kind of human change. You introduce the raw materials into a system of order, like the making of a poem, and once the matter is shaped it\u2019s ready to be shipped. I mean, the incoming and outgoing energies have achieved a kind of balance. Believe it or not, I felt completely confident in the work I was doing. And did it, I think, well.<\/p>\n

\u2014A. R. Ammons, the Art of Poetry No. 73<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The poet A. R. Ammons was born on this day in 1926. INTERVIEWER I know that you worked in your father-in-law\u2019s biological glass factory as a vice president in charge of sales. Were you interested in the work or was it dull? AMMONS It wasn\u2019t dull. I have a poem somewhere explaining how running a business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9064],"tags":[2742,2046,12915,12916,7519],"class_list":["post-66911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quote-unquote","tag-a-r-ammons","tag-business","tag-glass","tag-raw-materials","tag-the-art-of-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHappy Birthday, A. R. Ammons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 18, 2014 \u2013 The poet A. R. Ammons was born on this day in 1926. 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