Dear Patti, unfortunately I only see today your sweet message on the road to sleep dedicated to Arthur Rimbaud on his birthday. Thank you for reading the poem Ma Bohème! Since I was a boy I too have loved Arthur and his wonderful poetic art.
And how beautiful to hear, scattered like the pebbles of Petit-Poucet (Pollicino in Italian), the messages of Jesse that come from the clouds, returning with Jackson from Cleveland, after having participated in the wonderful and moving ceremony for the induction of their father Fred Sonic Smith into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Thank you Patti, for your sweetness and for what you do for all of us.
I hug you with so much affection and with you all the friends of the beautiful community gathered around you.
Congratulations, Patti, on Fred's induction to the HoF. (Kick out the jams!) And thank you for sharing Rimbaud's poetry as well. It inspired me, for what it's worth (somethin' happenin' here ...), to write a poem in return. It's a poem for a different time and a different world than Rimbaud's, and one that has changed greatly just in our own lifetimes. Anyway, a hopeful and humble offering to any and all.
Coming to this late because 21st October is my birthday too and l have been busy doing nice things. Such a beautiful poem and lovely to hear you read it and then to hear from Jesse in the clouds! Congratulations to Fred for finally being inducted into the Hall of Fame. So well deserved.Much love from London 🙏
Wonderful! I like it. :) It is a powerful and moving poem that captures the spirit of artistic freedom and the joys of wandering. Thank you so much. Your exhibition will be in Japan soon.
It is strange and moving to think of the boy poet in his torn pants, wandering beneath the stars, finding comfort and beauty in their movement (a “rustling”, as if he can hear the stars, as well as see them). And then to think of many years passing, and another poet—-in a much different time—-speaking the boy’s words into another night, so that many people, under many stars, can wander with him. And all the while, the poet’s precious daughter flies home to her through the vastness of those same heavens the poet once watched.
Congratulations to your family for the Hall of Fame honor, which is richly deserved, and thank you for sharing Arthur’s tender and rapturous words.
I wanted to tell you guys that last night I saw the meteor shower from Halley's comet from my balcony in the city!
I prefer night sky photos without a flash but always take a few with flash so that I can ascertain more clearly what in the night sky I'm seeing. With my naked eye I was just seeing the waning moon and Jupiter, but when I looked at the photo, there it was — a total surprise to me!
I wanted to share it with all of you because you were so kind about my awful migraine and the treatment I had yesterday that would make me feel immediately unwell but hopefully would ultimately help.
Everything was made more bearable - and beautiful - with Patti's renderings of Rimbaud, all of your comments, and then the gorgeous meteor shower.
I was so out of it with migraine yesterday and night that I missed this whole post. I’m so happy to have found it today, and grateful for your reading this poem, Patti. I also read it long ago and loved it, and love it still. It is such a beautiful poem. Thank you for the photos too.
Congratulations on another Smith family induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! It brought tears to my eyes to see the photo of Jesse and Jackson there together, brother and sister, honoring their father.
“From the clouds” is a beautiful message from Jesse; “from the earth” a perfect reply.
Thank you so much, Patti. As I write this, I think you are doing your Woolgathering performance which opens tonight. I trust it is going beautifully. I hope there will somewhere be bits of it to see, or maybe the whole thing will be videoed? I hope so.
Happy day after Rimbaud’s birthday. Wishing everyone in this community well.
Dear Robin, I don't know why I sometimes miss Patti's posts. Only today did I see this delicate message on the way to sleep dedicated to Arthur, and his birthday, with the reading of a beautiful poem of his and, live, the arrival of Jesse's messages from the clouds, returning from Cleveland, with his brother Jackson, after the magnificent ceremony for the induction of his father Fred Sonic Smith and his group MC5 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame... something wonderful, so sweet!
I'm so sorry to hear that you had such a painful migraine. I hope it's completely gone!
I’m coming to this post a bit late but am hoping your migraine is fully gone and that you are not too terribly drained. Rest if you can and may you be as comfortable as possible. So thankful for your just-right messages and quotes here and your beautiful photos and posts on Instagram. I’ve come to look forward to Helen’s flowers on Sundays. Take care, Robin.
Thank you so much for this. I’m more grateful than I can express if anything I say or do is of use. Truly, with all my heart I thank you and wish you well.
I did not know about the Woolgathering performance so I looked it up. It sounds fascinating. I do hope that some of it makes its way to YouTube. Thanks for letting us know.
I’m sorry not to have seen this before now. It’s been a rough couple of days. Doesn’t the Woolfathering performance look amazing? I, too, hope that there is some way we can see a recording (video) of it.
Hoping you are well, and that your son is now pain free.
Patti, instead of a poem before bed, I've just enjoyed Arthur with my afternoon tea. "And so off I went..." Thank you for that.
Congrats to the family for Fred's well-deserved induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, at last.
How proud Jackson and Jesse must be. I don't know if there are any other couples who share that honor. I'll have to Google it. For now, wishing you a lovely afternoon.
Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz of Talking Heads. Ike and Tina Turner though they were long divorced when inducted. Same with John and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac though they continued playing in the band together. I can't think of any others.
Thanks, Jim. Didn't know about Weymouth and Franz. Was also reminded that the "Rock Hall" didn't open in Cleveland till 1995. It just feels like it was much longer ago.
This was a lovely message and reading, dear Patti. I loved envisioning the idea that you were writing back Jesse from the earth to the cloud. Thank you for sharing your heart and wisdom.
Hey Patti! I wrote a song about Rimbaud, because of you and because of him. ❤️ hope u could listen to it
I share this birthday with Rimbaud! Bela Lugosi and Snoop Dog as well. In good company :) Congratulations on the Hall of Fame
Patti, I think there is a book on Amazon about you that plagiarizes M Train.
Dear Patti, unfortunately I only see today your sweet message on the road to sleep dedicated to Arthur Rimbaud on his birthday. Thank you for reading the poem Ma Bohème! Since I was a boy I too have loved Arthur and his wonderful poetic art.
And how beautiful to hear, scattered like the pebbles of Petit-Poucet (Pollicino in Italian), the messages of Jesse that come from the clouds, returning with Jackson from Cleveland, after having participated in the wonderful and moving ceremony for the induction of their father Fred Sonic Smith into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Thank you Patti, for your sweetness and for what you do for all of us.
I hug you with so much affection and with you all the friends of the beautiful community gathered around you.
Luca ❤️✨
Luca! How wonderful the imagining of Pollicino! Davvero dolcissima. A warm hug to you and to all our beautiful caravan of friends. 🤗🫶
Congratulations, Patti, on Fred's induction to the HoF. (Kick out the jams!) And thank you for sharing Rimbaud's poetry as well. It inspired me, for what it's worth (somethin' happenin' here ...), to write a poem in return. It's a poem for a different time and a different world than Rimbaud's, and one that has changed greatly just in our own lifetimes. Anyway, a hopeful and humble offering to any and all.
Yea upon what dreams we travel,
the road paved with tales and songs
born from the unseen spaces
that run along the underside
of the deeply dreaming mind.
No, I know I'm no Rimbaud,
nor bear name or title as ‘smith
Still from those unseen spaces,
a halting phrase or sentiment
just as quickly came and went
oh! Bereft of rhyme or reason,
the phrase left a’dangling there—
doubt crept in unseen traces—
but how I wished to give it life
to cast a line beyond the pantomime
lo! Heaven and earth draw borders
yet more dreams are yet undreamt
than can yet be imagined
than can yet be philosophized
in spaces yet unoccupied
by and by the inhuman need
for human endeavour to fill
ev’ry unfulfilled space
ev’ry unnamed thing
a light in every room
Mine, the heart that beats upon the track
A rhythm by which I travel
While the world’s press—
Pressing upon my heart—
compresses the course ahead
into a needle’s eye
What unbounded heart could pass
Through such a narrow defile
And not be malformed
or be misshapen
The rhythm lost, the song forgotten?
Yea, what tale not misremembered
by such mindless dismemberment
of the deeply dreaming mind
seeking not to be lost
seeking not to be found
but to be as one with the Mystery
that surrounds all the ruthless naming
all the lighted spaces
all the market stalls and
all prescribed paths laid down before us
by those same tales and songs of old
We dreamed them all, oh, so long ago
Forgot that they were only dreams
born from the unseen spaces
of our deeply dreaming minds.
Heart! What foot does stand upon you?
To your own feet give precedence
Bear them to the unseen spaces
that run along the underside
of your deeply dreaming mind!
I must pave the road ahead
With my own tales and songs,
Thought doubts beset my every turn,
To wake from the world’s ischemia
In search of my own Bohemia
Coming to this late because 21st October is my birthday too and l have been busy doing nice things. Such a beautiful poem and lovely to hear you read it and then to hear from Jesse in the clouds! Congratulations to Fred for finally being inducted into the Hall of Fame. So well deserved.Much love from London 🙏
Wonderful! I like it. :) It is a powerful and moving poem that captures the spirit of artistic freedom and the joys of wandering. Thank you so much. Your exhibition will be in Japan soon.
https://cargocollective.com/beachgallery/RAMONES-PATTI-SMITH-JOHNNY-THUNDERS-NEW-YORK-PUNK-NEW-WAVE-POSTER-AND
It is strange and moving to think of the boy poet in his torn pants, wandering beneath the stars, finding comfort and beauty in their movement (a “rustling”, as if he can hear the stars, as well as see them). And then to think of many years passing, and another poet—-in a much different time—-speaking the boy’s words into another night, so that many people, under many stars, can wander with him. And all the while, the poet’s precious daughter flies home to her through the vastness of those same heavens the poet once watched.
Congratulations to your family for the Hall of Fame honor, which is richly deserved, and thank you for sharing Arthur’s tender and rapturous words.
Beautifully put, Janet. Take good care.
Glad someone remembered in such a beautiful way.
Thank you for spreading the legacy of the great Rimbaud.
Au revoir!
I wanted to tell you guys that last night I saw the meteor shower from Halley's comet from my balcony in the city!
I prefer night sky photos without a flash but always take a few with flash so that I can ascertain more clearly what in the night sky I'm seeing. With my naked eye I was just seeing the waning moon and Jupiter, but when I looked at the photo, there it was — a total surprise to me!
I wanted to share it with all of you because you were so kind about my awful migraine and the treatment I had yesterday that would make me feel immediately unwell but hopefully would ultimately help.
Everything was made more bearable - and beautiful - with Patti's renderings of Rimbaud, all of your comments, and then the gorgeous meteor shower.
"And in the sky my stars were rustling . . . “
(From “My Bohemia”)
Gratitude to all of you,
Robin
How wonderful you got to see that meteor shower. I'm glad it made everything more bearable. Thanks for sharing your wonderful vision with us.
Thank you so much, Jim. It really was amazing. Like a gift. Thank you for understanding.
I hope your son’s migraine has been banished - and vanished.
As ever,
Robin
My son says his headache is a 2 out of 10 today. He'll take it. Thanks for asking.
2 out of 10 is not bad; here’s to getting down to 0!
Thanks. I hope yours is giving you a break.
It worked. It is a very nice pool, Thank you.
I was so out of it with migraine yesterday and night that I missed this whole post. I’m so happy to have found it today, and grateful for your reading this poem, Patti. I also read it long ago and loved it, and love it still. It is such a beautiful poem. Thank you for the photos too.
Congratulations on another Smith family induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! It brought tears to my eyes to see the photo of Jesse and Jackson there together, brother and sister, honoring their father.
“From the clouds” is a beautiful message from Jesse; “from the earth” a perfect reply.
Thank you so much, Patti. As I write this, I think you are doing your Woolgathering performance which opens tonight. I trust it is going beautifully. I hope there will somewhere be bits of it to see, or maybe the whole thing will be videoed? I hope so.
Happy day after Rimbaud’s birthday. Wishing everyone in this community well.
Warmly,
Robin
Dear Robin, I don't know why I sometimes miss Patti's posts. Only today did I see this delicate message on the way to sleep dedicated to Arthur, and his birthday, with the reading of a beautiful poem of his and, live, the arrival of Jesse's messages from the clouds, returning from Cleveland, with his brother Jackson, after the magnificent ceremony for the induction of his father Fred Sonic Smith and his group MC5 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame... something wonderful, so sweet!
I'm so sorry to hear that you had such a painful migraine. I hope it's completely gone!
A warm hug 🤗 dear Robin!
Luca
I’m coming to this post a bit late but am hoping your migraine is fully gone and that you are not too terribly drained. Rest if you can and may you be as comfortable as possible. So thankful for your just-right messages and quotes here and your beautiful photos and posts on Instagram. I’ve come to look forward to Helen’s flowers on Sundays. Take care, Robin.
Dear Janet,
Thank you so much for this. I’m more grateful than I can express if anything I say or do is of use. Truly, with all my heart I thank you and wish you well.
Always,
Robin
Hi Robin
I did not know about the Woolgathering performance so I looked it up. It sounds fascinating. I do hope that some of it makes its way to YouTube. Thanks for letting us know.
As always, wishing you the best.
Jim
Hi Jim,
I’m sorry not to have seen this before now. It’s been a rough couple of days. Doesn’t the Woolfathering performance look amazing? I, too, hope that there is some way we can see a recording (video) of it.
Hoping you are well, and that your son is now pain free.
With warmth, as ever,
Robin
Typo in Woolgathering - sorry
Woolfathering would be a whole different book.
You made my day with that, Jim. Thank you.
My pleasure.
💜
Patti, instead of a poem before bed, I've just enjoyed Arthur with my afternoon tea. "And so off I went..." Thank you for that.
Congrats to the family for Fred's well-deserved induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, at last.
How proud Jackson and Jesse must be. I don't know if there are any other couples who share that honor. I'll have to Google it. For now, wishing you a lovely afternoon.
What a good point, Suzi! Did you ascertain whether there are any other couples who share that distinction?
Turns out there are. Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil and Carole King/Gerry Goffin are the two
that came up. I'll look a little further and see if there are any more.
Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz of Talking Heads. Ike and Tina Turner though they were long divorced when inducted. Same with John and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac though they continued playing in the band together. I can't think of any others.
Thanks, Jim. Didn't know about Weymouth and Franz. Was also reminded that the "Rock Hall" didn't open in Cleveland till 1995. It just feels like it was much longer ago.
How divine to share a moment with you and Jesse as you read Rimbaud to us….congrats on being Hall of Famers! Sweet dreams, Patti….xoxo
This was a lovely message and reading, dear Patti. I loved envisioning the idea that you were writing back Jesse from the earth to the cloud. Thank you for sharing your heart and wisdom.