PRX default Piece image

"Thank You For Saying Thank You" by Charles Bernstein

From: Sean Cole
Length: 04:03

An hysterical poem about how accessible it, itself, is. Read by Charles Bernstein at the 2002 Boston Poetry Marathon. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: "Thank You For Saying Thank You" by Charles Bernstein
From: Sean Cole

Default-piece-image-1 A common complaint about poetry in general is that it's esoteric and inaccessible. "Thank You For Saying Thank You" is a poem that even the biggest detractor of poetry can understand, a poem about itself and, in the end, about the form. It's by Charles Bernstein, recorded at the Boston Poetry Marathon in the summer of 2002. (Would be great in a spot normally reserved for commentaries. A perfect segment to mark National Poetry Month and made for radio.)

More from Sean Cole

Are Animals Creative? (06:31)
From: Sean Cole

A short investigation of the age-old question, "are animals creative?"

Who's Your Daddy? (19:09)
From: Sean Cole

This is a story about someone who asked the most beautiful man in the world for his sperm.

"In Particular" by Charles Bernstein (05:21)
From: Sean Cole

A wide-angle view of the whole of humanity, a kind of "Song of Myself" for contempory America, written in extremely short profiles.

"If You See Something" by John Mulrooney (09:01)
From: Sean Cole

This is a poem by Boston area poet and Suffolk University professor John Mulrooney, recorded at the Boston Poetry Massacre on July 30, 2004.

X-Town (07:35)
From: Sean Cole

This is a short documentary about people who lived in four Massachusetts towns that were destroyed to make way for a reservoir.

Piece Description

A common complaint about poetry in general is that it's esoteric and inaccessible. "Thank You For Saying Thank You" is a poem that even the biggest detractor of poetry can understand, a poem about itself and, in the end, about the form. It's by Charles Bernstein, recorded at the Boston Poetry Marathon in the summer of 2002. (Would be great in a spot normally reserved for commentaries. A perfect segment to mark National Poetry Month and made for radio.)