A poet whose work I enjoy is Charles Bernstein (editor at the electronic poetry center, a vast and wonderful site to visit and browse)-- and one of my neighbors recently surprised me with a link to a new-to-me Bernstein poem, "Thank You for Saying Thank You," that he had found (audio at Poets.org). Below I offer an excerpt -- and a link to the text of the complete poem. And, because I first misunderstood and thought that my neighbor had heard the poem on NPR, I went to NPR.org and found this wonderful treasury of poems and commentary.
Showing posts with label Charles Bernstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Bernstein. Show all posts
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Count your things
In the development of human culture, mathematics began with counting. And so it also begins with each child as she/he grows.
Someone said that a person is wealthy when she has more things than she can count. Another view is that true wealth is having no need to count. Whether or not either is is correct, we can appreciate "My/My/My" by poet Charles Bernstein (begun below and completed at poets.org).
My/My/My by Charles Bernstein
Count these number of things you call mine. This is the distance between
you and enlightenment. —Swami Satchidananda
(for Jenny)
my pillow
my shirt
Someone said that a person is wealthy when she has more things than she can count. Another view is that true wealth is having no need to count. Whether or not either is is correct, we can appreciate "My/My/My" by poet Charles Bernstein (begun below and completed at poets.org).
My/My/My by Charles Bernstein
Count these number of things you call mine. This is the distance between
you and enlightenment. —Swami Satchidananda
(for Jenny)
my pillow
my shirt
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Word Play -- "Of Time and the Line"
Charles Bernstein, poet and teacher, experiments with poetry and prefers "opaque" and "impermeable" writing -- to awaken readers "from the hypnosis of absorption." In the poem below he does, as mathematicians also do, multiplies ideas by playing with them -- here using "line."
Of Time and the Line by Charles Bernstein
George Burns likes to insist that he always
takes the straight lines; the cigar in his mouth
is a way of leaving space between the
lines for a laugh. He weaves lines together
by means of a picaresque narrative;
Of Time and the Line by Charles Bernstein
George Burns likes to insist that he always
takes the straight lines; the cigar in his mouth
is a way of leaving space between the
lines for a laugh. He weaves lines together
by means of a picaresque narrative;
Labels:
angle,
Charles Bernstein,
line,
lines,
math,
poem,
postmodern,
word play
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