Hi Ms Patti, I am new here and catching up on your posts. I love the bungalow. My father lived in a bungalow in Rockaway during the late 60s, early 70s. Glad that some are still around.
Just catching up..on my birthday Aug 25th can't believe I am 70! Love your Rockaway getaway! What a neat idea..a table of interchanging objects! That sampler cloth is beautiful! Have a wonderful day Patti!
Just catching up on your visits and thanks for sharing this little glimpse into you hideaway, getaway home away from home. I often think of a little escape to a little home somewhere near a lake. But for now it is me and my little Hotel home in Downtown L.A, rich in it's history but has seen better days. Certainly no Chelsea Hotel but in it's hey day may have given her a run for the money. I love the table with interchangeable treasures!
Patti, I love your table of interchangeable objects. You’ve inspired me to try something similar. I inherited a number of vases and tchotchkes from my mom who passed away last year. Some items go back 2 generations. I don’t want to keep everything, but perhaps I will have a seasonal rotation of objects instead of trying to find a place for everything all at once. Thank you as always for sharing.
Your Rockaway hideout has turned out fantastically... I especially love your table/altar thingy... I've been reading Ariel since 1990, so you've got some years on me.
Just catching up. You are a Renaissance woman. I love hearing about what you are reading. It inspires me. Also so cool that monks gave you picture of St Francis. Wow
I was just going through your video posts and saw the pic of the Frida Kahlo book of photos. I just picked up that very same book a month ago. Will be the fourth book that I have read about her, but even more special I think as these were her own photos.
Found this message just now …. It had gone astray for some unknown reason ! As always a joy to hear from you and to share a few precious minutes of time with you .. ☀️
Hello Patti!! It's Claire, from Paris. Thanks so much for this message and the photos!! Such a joy to see you in your new house, which survived to chaos!! Your Mexican decoration and the simplicity of the place seems very inspirational and I hope you feel very very well in it. The toaster is great! Your comments on Sylvia Plath is very inspiring and I am going to read her with new eyes and a new heart. Thanks again for your presence and your generosity! 💗💗🙏🙏🌹🌹
Greetings to you Patti, in your humble abode in Rockaway, from faraway Australia.
I adore your description of Sylvia Plath as being the two Vs. I was first introduced to her by a former lecturer in 1996 while studying for a Bachelor of Education. It was my first introduction into the “confessional movement” of poetry writing. I believe that she wrote Ariel not long before she took her own life. Blessings to you Patti, thanks for your generosity of time & wisdom. 🖤
I can almost smell the aroma of brownbread toasting. I love your humble kitchen with the open shelving. It reminds me of my father's bungalow with woodframed windows. And I like your minimalistic decor. It looks like a peaceful space fit for a monk. I imagine mindfully watching your curtains waving in the sea breeze.
Thank you for sharing your reading adventures. You're an infinite well of inspiration.
"I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited."
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Thank you for sharing your beautiful home and thoughts with all of us! I do also love Sylvia Plath! Do you read Gabriel Garcia Marquez…my favorite author?
Thank you everyone. Im happy you like seeing my little house. It’s been through a lot and was nearly destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. But with the help of others it prevailed. The floors are tiles from Mexico that were baked and dried in the sun.
And, it may just be daylight streaming through your kitchen window as opposed to the electrical light in your bedroom (or it could be MY internet provider!), but the image from Rockaway is a lot clearer, sharper.
Nice to see you Patti in your light filled kitchen,and there's always something beautiful about seeing someone else's special objects, talismans. I love the simplicity of your little house, thanks for these images ❤️
What a treat to see you in your house, Patti. The light coming through your kitchen window is beautiful, and that is a great toaster. I love the table of interchanging objects. The cloth that is draped over it now has wonderful embroidery. There seems to be initials on it that are mysterious: “SHT” “CMP” “ABF” etc. And the images seem to be illustrations of biblical scenes. A really intriguing thing.
Your copy of “Ariel” is wonderful. It looks like a first edition from 1965. That’s not the same one that Robert M. got you in 1967, is it?
I agree that there is no one like Plath. We can see from her juvenilia how hard she worked at her craft. I often think of her as one of the hardest working poets. The letters and journals bespeak a keen awareness of her potential shortcomings and her efforts to overcome them, which, in “Ariel,” (posthumously published) she did. The collection is such an extraordinary achievement.
A poem from “Ariel” not as well known (because not as widely anthologized as others) but remarkable, I think, is “Berck-Plage,” a poem that takes place at the seashore (where you are — well, obviously not the same seashore, but your being by the sea put me especially in mind if it). In it, Plath commemorates the death of her aged neighbor, Percy Key. Because this poem of death is removed from Plath’s father’s death (essentially a suicide) and her own suicidality, it enables Plath to inhabit a different kind of self than we see in poems such as “Laddy Lazarus,” or “Daddy.” She presents and perceives death in a kind of slow motion, and from various perspectives, including that of children who are watching the burial after a pilgrimage has been made to the grave.
It is really an amazing poem - the “I” speaks with such force - both the force of death and that of life. Needless to say, no obligation, but Patti, it would be great to hear you read “Berck-Plage,” or any poem from “Ariel.” I’m suggesting “Berck-Plage” since it’s less well known and, I think, wrongly so.
Copyright laws are preventing my pasting it here, but it’s available online as well as in “Ariel.”
Thank you for this visit, Patti, and warm wishes to everyone, as ever,
Hi Patti. Well I just think you’re the cats pajamas. I get such a lift every time there’s a new substack. Thank you for letting us join you in your home. Enjoy Rockaway!
Hi Patti always your happy, healthy mind and radiance gives us joy ♡ helpers are fine gifts from the universe and the art of poets, universal. Such simple living after work & travels. We honor your allowances; the entry into routes of history's minds we now may open to explore, and, mostly, hope for our future on Earth ♡ grateful to you ♡
Thank you so much for sharing these photos! i particularly love your "table of interchanging objects" as I realize I too have one. i kept wanting it to be an altar but it has had interchanging objects on it forever with me being frustrated with myself for not committing to what i "thought" it should have on it as an "altar". currently it has some of my mother's ashes in a beautiful Asian urn type container, one of my kitties ashes, and then different photos of my mum, some with me in them, over the years . . . thank you Patti!!
Dear Patti, I just had an idea to make a small photo book of altar spaces and was wondering if I could use your photo of "table of interchanging objects" and use your quote "An altar has no rules save love." Would I need to go through a manager... I assume it would not be legal to use it without asking. This isn't for profit just inspiration (self published) but understand if a person of your stature needs to be more formal- I understand if asking on your platform is a little too forward but was suddenly inspired and not sure how else to ask. Perhaps it's divine inspiration ;) p.s. unrelated but Lenny Kaye lives in my hometown. He lives next door to my professors. I went to his yard sale as a teenager and we got to talking about music. He hooked me up with some great lps/cds including 'Horses' in a care package he sent me which blew my mind. I never put it together until 10 years later that he played on the album ;) -such humility-a heart of gold and a local hero of mine and you became one too once I memorized the poetry of 'Horses'. - Anyway thanks for making a platform where we can connect to you. I am thankful for Lenny for introducing me to you nearly 20 years ago and thanks to you - my library is overflowing with books you have mentioned in your own books. Love that you walk the same NJ beaches as I played on as a child. Now, I am writing in to say hello from Tokyo xo (((0))) -Jamie
Patti, Thank you for letting us in. Your Rockaway home reminds of the bungalow I rented in the West End of Long Beach, throughout eighties / early 90's. The kitchen looks indentical. It was a great hidaway. My place was very small... I had to go outside to change my mind.
Thank you Patti for sharing the little snapshot of your Rockaway abode. Your messages are a lovely link all the way down here to Australia. It's a very generous gesture on your part.
Thanks for sharing an inside look of your lovely home! It looks like such a peaceful, relaxing place! Enjoy re-reading your Sylvia book and have a lovely evening!!
Cool space, with just the essentials. Thanks for sharing it with us. Looks like a great way to avoid distractions and focus on creativity ...or beach walks ...or weeds. Although all distractions are readily available again now that the internet is fixed...
Patti, I’m happy you have a chance to be still. The folks at Ghost Ranch did a beautiful job helping me with a place to sleep. I’ll be the little person in Coyote 10. Perhaps we might stumble into one another along the path or paying homage to the moon. 🙏
Seems you were a nun/monk in another realm...and so much more of course! Still here: dismantling and rearranging until Truth is fully revealed. Thankyou for your sharing 💗
I love your table of objects! I also change the things on my desk every few days - beautiful things, memories, tender tokens - and tactile things too. Cold stones are the best!
I feel the same about Sylvia. In fact, Sylvia, Frida, Lauren Bacall and YOU have been my icons for so very long now. Lauren since I was 11, you since 16 - and now I'm 60. You've all lit my path beautifully.
Loved seeing your little getaway place. Thanks so much for giving us a glimpse. Would love to see the unruly yard, too! Enjoy. Unwind. Stay safe. And say hello to the ocean!
Your 'retreat' home looks so peaceful - thank you for sharing the photos. Love the floor! Hope you are enjoying the beach and your garden -once the weeds are tackled!.
Rockaway makes me think of Coney island and then of course Coney Island Baby and whether you were part of closing backing vocal though uncredited. Lovely touch to that song, missing Lou .
It’s very generous and kind of you to share your little sanctuary with us. Very special. It looks cozy and peaceful. Always really lovely to hear from you. Thank you.
So, sitting here smiling as you sit smiling in your beach house. I, too, have all simple Sears appliances as well as a formica countertop and a simple toaster that belonged to my husband Dave’s aunt. All the appliances are old (as am I at 78!), but they, and I, are all in tip top condition! I hear many stories of new, ‘state of the art’ appliances continually having issues due at times to their complexity. Being Italian and having grown up eating only fresh, home cooked meals, I continue that tradition and spend many many hours in my kitchen preparing good food. I am very much looking forward to seeing you at Count Basie, and wish I could have you all to my house for an old fashioned Italian feast!!! An open invitation always! (Oh, and I’ve had some counseling with Jesse, a very compassionate young woman.)
Thanks for inviting us into your other home, Patti. From your writings, it's obvious how much it means to you but it remains rather mysterious to me (and maybe your other fans and readers, as well). Please bring us more from this miraculous place. And your longtime fans will know why it's considered 'miraculous'.
Patti, your Rockaway house is one of my favorite characters of yours! I loved reading about it in M train and I love seeing it here now. It's my dream to one day have a space that's truly mine, realized in the image that i envision. Especially delighted by the table of interchangeable objects. Thanks as ever for the inspiration, and be well as summer turns to fall.
Hello back to you Patti! I'm glad your internet is working and that a weed intervention has taken place in the yard. I agree with you about Sylvia Plath. I love her poetry. I don't find her depressing because of the way she uses language.
Thank you for the film from Rockaway. What a unique and charming space. Your description in "M Train" of the creation your Rockaway home lodged in my memory and provided the inspiration for a little backyard room that we designed during the early days of the pandemic. You continue to inspire in so many ways. xo
Patti, you're living where I had my happiest childhood moments, Rockaway, aka the Jewish Riviera. Days on the sand with salt in my hair, eves on the boardwalk playing skee ball. I read your book in which you spoke about buying a bungalow there, and was so jealous (still am!). Enjoy it.
Hey Patti! Thanks for showing us your place. Looks like a cozy hideaway and I bet you get lots of inspiration there. As for the weeds, we've all been there! Keep rocking!
Plath was the best poet of all the so-called "Confessionalists." Better than Lowell, better than Berryman, Sexton, all of them -- and far beyond Ted Hughes. So sweet to see Ariel here and to know it was gifted to you by fellow genius Mapplethorpe. I've been thinking about his flower photos lately, as the flowers begin to fade around here and autumn slowly makes its approach.
Hi Dear Patti! It is a beautiful day. I could listen to you for hours! I Lived in the Rockaways between 1978-2021…… is was 28 when I moved there. I sold my condo on SFP and moved east to old stony Brook which also has water within walking distance… a tiny beach. My street is rustic and overgrown with graceful old trees. I love trees…. They balance me. I do miss the foody summertime in RB! In the Rockaway Hotel there is a tabletop book and you are in it !
I had to explain to the youthful desk agent who you are and he was quite interested I. Hearing little tidbits. When the Hurricane hit, my condo was totally destroyed as well as my car. I had to live elsewhere for almost two years during its rebuild. I lost items that were irreplaceable …. Though they are in my heart and my minds eye.
I learned that “less is more” over time. It was a message of liberation . I needed to shed my skin and renew. I have and I am quite serene now.
It’s always nice to have a visit from you, Patti. When u first attacked the weeds and said softly, “I’m sorry” some commenters thought u were addressing the weeds. But I understood you were apologizing to your garden putti sculpture. Was I correct? Ps I always like your visits fr your room w Cairo. Have fun today!
Thank you for giving us a peek into your hideaway. The stone floor is beautiful. It looks like somewhere in Italy. You have a nice amount of space. I thought it was much smaller. It‘s so nice to be busy, then when so much is done to sit back and survey the new look. I love that with garden work. My sporadic weed thinnings always provide a dramatic change.
How wonderful to get a greeting from Rockaway. (I always think of the Ramones when I hear that name. 'Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum...') A few weeks ago I finished Heather Clark's stunning biography of Sylvia Plath, Red Comet. Visceral and vulnerable are the perfect words. It's true that there's no one like her. There's no one like you either, Patti. Thanks as always for keeping in touch.
What a great spot. So great to hear from you today as I prepare to go to Burning Man and work on making some art. Despite the chaos of the universe, life continues. Enjoy your reading. XXOO
Thank you for sharing your special home, Patti. It’s so healthy to get away to serene places from time to time. Ii loved reading about it in M Train and it feels very sacred to be invited in now to hear your thoughts and reflections.
So lovely to see your shed! Also, I love the fact that, besides from Plath, you are enjoying 'Frida Kahlo: Her Photos'! You have such a good taste for everything, Patti. We love you dearly. So happy I got to meet you in Paris for the RM retrospective. —J. Peces
It looks like those may be the old cabinets, which is sustainable and lovely. Thank you for lifting our spirits, thank you for this gift from Rockaway.
Hi Patti! I’ve been doing so much catching up on your European travel videos with the beautiful photos and stories ( Leonardo’s grape vines!) that when I saw that I was only 9 minutes after you posted, it felt like a Zoom meeting , and I almost waved back! I love your little house in Rockaway, it feels familiar from reading M Train. You look well. 🎼🎶🧑💻 Muriel (aka Miki)
Since my many readings of M Train I wondered about your beach house. And voila, there it is. Very evocative of spaces I’ve been in in Chile and a bit in New Mexico. Be well.
I had no idea you’d be talking about Sylvia when I clicked this link. What a treat! I know several Ariel poems by heart. She and you are probably the two artists I admire most - I’m grateful you’re still alive so I can tell you that because I was born the year Robert gave you that copy Ariel and I could never tell Sylvia how mush she has inspired me all my life.
Love the st Francis painting, would love to see a close up. I'm reading Rilke at the moment, another visceral and vulnerable poet. Thanks for sharing patti. God Bless You.
J. Melvin Woody (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Connecticut College) regretted that he never introduced Sylvia Plath to Yoko Ono, whom he had dated. He told Plath’s biographer, Heather Clark, “Yoko was clearly the most beautiful girl, but she was Japanese so no one was dancing with her.” He stopped dating Yoko before becoming serious. She was shy and told him that she had attempted suicide at age fifteen. He saw that she was fragile and he didn’t want to hurt her. Yoko later invited Woody to visit her at Cambridge University. He declined.
You would love my new book about Yoko! Thank you for being her close friend!
In Your Mind - The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
by Madeline Bocaro
A complete look at Yoko Ono's life, art, films and music in astounding detail.
Includes the love story of John and Yoko, and all the work they did together.
hi patti! i will be on B67 soon, and love that you are also in the rockaways this afternoon...that really makes me smile...i will spend a couple hours on the sand, then will head up the boardwalk to B97 to get some food before heading back home to brooklyn...glad your internet is back up and working and that syvia is keeping you happy...enjoy your rockaways sojourn ❤️☀️
Took my friend Joel of 50 years to Rockaway from Brooklyn the other day...after being struck by a van in the city 6 years ago he is still recovering so it was good to get him outta his regular spots. Found a little outdoor Thai spot called Moon Lot on 96th...I don’t tend to eat Thai food in America unless it’s advised to me ....as in Australia we have it in spades.
But it’s a sweet little spot with vegan options etc ...outdoors under umbrellas....wear a hat no one will recognise you!
Rockaway Peach
Each one of these videos makes my day. You are such a joy to listen to.
Cretins At the Hop
Southern Rock
Owned
Hightstown NJ turntables in 1978.
I'd pop on the--
who?--"Ram Ons," hear Cretin Hop,
Not much Rockaway Beach, before
Getting lost,
Seeing Fort Dix signs
Dear Patti,
Am trying to channel your perseverance, fortitude, simplicity and humor.
A bad diagnosis is not the end or is it? Any suggested reading on mortality...non medical :-)
Thanks for all of your compelling work.
snappyred
Hi Ms Patti, I am new here and catching up on your posts. I love the bungalow. My father lived in a bungalow in Rockaway during the late 60s, early 70s. Glad that some are still around.
Just catching up..on my birthday Aug 25th can't believe I am 70! Love your Rockaway getaway! What a neat idea..a table of interchanging objects! That sampler cloth is beautiful! Have a wonderful day Patti!
My mother loved Girl of the Limberlost. I have not thought of it for decades. I'm thinking there is a special moth in this book.
Just catching up on your visits and thanks for sharing this little glimpse into you hideaway, getaway home away from home. I often think of a little escape to a little home somewhere near a lake. But for now it is me and my little Hotel home in Downtown L.A, rich in it's history but has seen better days. Certainly no Chelsea Hotel but in it's hey day may have given her a run for the money. I love the table with interchangeable treasures!
x
Patti, I love your table of interchangeable objects. You’ve inspired me to try something similar. I inherited a number of vases and tchotchkes from my mom who passed away last year. Some items go back 2 generations. I don’t want to keep everything, but perhaps I will have a seasonal rotation of objects instead of trying to find a place for everything all at once. Thank you as always for sharing.
I love your curtain treatment and will use one day myself.
Your Rockaway hideout has turned out fantastically... I especially love your table/altar thingy... I've been reading Ariel since 1990, so you've got some years on me.
It's my favorite of hers.
I bless you my dear
Patti you make me feel since 1976,great music and words.
I really like your Rockaway place!!
Just catching up. You are a Renaissance woman. I love hearing about what you are reading. It inspires me. Also so cool that monks gave you picture of St Francis. Wow
your table of interchanging objects! 😍
I love your kitchen . . . kitchen for the future . . . tiny footprint . . . and so beautiful!
I was just going through your video posts and saw the pic of the Frida Kahlo book of photos. I just picked up that very same book a month ago. Will be the fourth book that I have read about her, but even more special I think as these were her own photos.
❤
Found this message just now …. It had gone astray for some unknown reason ! As always a joy to hear from you and to share a few precious minutes of time with you .. ☀️
Thank you Patti. I feel like I just had coffee with you. Your videos to us are a treasure.
I love your little house, it's pretty sweet!
Thank you for sharing. I smile too, now bright and sunny.
Hello Patti!! It's Claire, from Paris. Thanks so much for this message and the photos!! Such a joy to see you in your new house, which survived to chaos!! Your Mexican decoration and the simplicity of the place seems very inspirational and I hope you feel very very well in it. The toaster is great! Your comments on Sylvia Plath is very inspiring and I am going to read her with new eyes and a new heart. Thanks again for your presence and your generosity! 💗💗🙏🙏🌹🌹
I feel inspired by Patti, as you do, to read Ariel by Plath.
Greetings to you Patti, in your humble abode in Rockaway, from faraway Australia.
I adore your description of Sylvia Plath as being the two Vs. I was first introduced to her by a former lecturer in 1996 while studying for a Bachelor of Education. It was my first introduction into the “confessional movement” of poetry writing. I believe that she wrote Ariel not long before she took her own life. Blessings to you Patti, thanks for your generosity of time & wisdom. 🖤
Hi Patti,
Thank you for inviting us into your kitchen. Did you pour yourself a coffee?
Love❤️
Lol!
Gracias querida ♥️
Wish you have a beautiful day
She will.
Love your place and your words! Thank you Patti!
A sweet place to be in your sweet mood.
I can almost smell the aroma of brownbread toasting. I love your humble kitchen with the open shelving. It reminds me of my father's bungalow with woodframed windows. And I like your minimalistic decor. It looks like a peaceful space fit for a monk. I imagine mindfully watching your curtains waving in the sea breeze.
Thank you for sharing your reading adventures. You're an infinite well of inspiration.
"I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited."
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Thank you for the quotes. It is peaceful. I often put on some Grateful Dead and just daydream.
Fine choice of music. I imagine myself floating on water feeling the ripples.
Gosh how I'd love to hear you sing Ripples
https://youtu.be/5yJmBC7cMTM
🦢
Hello I want to visit you at Rockaway beach someday
That looks like an ideal creative sanctuary.
Hi Patti! I like your cosy place, it gives me such a spiritual vibe! And the first thing that caught my eye is the floor...solid and beautiful!
Hello Patti, thank you for the video and the pictures. I love the tablecloth, is it from Mexico like the floor? ❤
Whenever I see Rockaway I think of the Ramones. I can't help it!
Oh Patti- you are so utterly charming. What a joy this is.
Thanx Patti I’m watching “The Roman spring of Mrs. Stone” made in Italy.
Thanks, Patti, great to see you comfy at home with a good book!
I love hearing Plath's voice reciting Ariel https://youtu.be/w_iu-uT67aE
Phil Ochs smiles easier in the winter winds of the Rockaways
Since you moved there.
https://youtu.be/0WnVNhAaDzc
Peace✌🏻️❤️Love All Ways🔥🚲🌹🙏🏻🖖🏼
Thanks for the read tip Patti, I will pick up the book today !
It is a classic written by Gene Stratton-Porter in 1909. I read it as a young girl.
My sister's favorite book is The Girl of The Limberlost!! I'll tell her you like it too!
Phillip
It was my mother's copy. I loved it too.
Thank you Patti ❤️
Thank you for sharing your beautiful home and thoughts with all of us! I do also love Sylvia Plath! Do you read Gabriel Garcia Marquez…my favorite author?
Good morning from Nashville, Patti. Have a restful weekend!
Thank you everyone. Im happy you like seeing my little house. It’s been through a lot and was nearly destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. But with the help of others it prevailed. The floors are tiles from Mexico that were baked and dried in the sun.
Hi Patti,
I'm still stunned that I can write to you!
Lovely cottage in Rockaway.
It's astounding that you keep it so simple and clutter -free(my challenge in life!)
Thank you for Ariel and Sylvia whom I've avoided.
You sound as if you're a kindred spirit with her...v & v.
How special your picture of St.Francis and how it was gifted to you.
Decluttering a yard is so liberating.
Love you,Patti
and so appreciate these glimpses into your lives.
Cyn
Your internet from Rockaway WORKS!
And, it may just be daylight streaming through your kitchen window as opposed to the electrical light in your bedroom (or it could be MY internet provider!), but the image from Rockaway is a lot clearer, sharper.
Looks a lovely restful place Patti. I have been told a lot about Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, but have not personally read either as yet.
Patti . I was Introduced to Sylvia Plath in a 10 th grade modern lit class !! Every time I read her I thank my Lit teacher !
And now I thank you for this post love the pics , the bungalow , Sylvia and yes the memory of reading about rockaway , unruly weeds and You !!!
What a sweet visit.
Thank you for sharing these pictures of your home. I have the same Frida Kahlo book of photographs myself.
Nice to see you Patti in your light filled kitchen,and there's always something beautiful about seeing someone else's special objects, talismans. I love the simplicity of your little house, thanks for these images ❤️
Thanks Patti. Wish you well and being back home.
What a treat to see you in your house, Patti. The light coming through your kitchen window is beautiful, and that is a great toaster. I love the table of interchanging objects. The cloth that is draped over it now has wonderful embroidery. There seems to be initials on it that are mysterious: “SHT” “CMP” “ABF” etc. And the images seem to be illustrations of biblical scenes. A really intriguing thing.
Your copy of “Ariel” is wonderful. It looks like a first edition from 1965. That’s not the same one that Robert M. got you in 1967, is it?
I agree that there is no one like Plath. We can see from her juvenilia how hard she worked at her craft. I often think of her as one of the hardest working poets. The letters and journals bespeak a keen awareness of her potential shortcomings and her efforts to overcome them, which, in “Ariel,” (posthumously published) she did. The collection is such an extraordinary achievement.
A poem from “Ariel” not as well known (because not as widely anthologized as others) but remarkable, I think, is “Berck-Plage,” a poem that takes place at the seashore (where you are — well, obviously not the same seashore, but your being by the sea put me especially in mind if it). In it, Plath commemorates the death of her aged neighbor, Percy Key. Because this poem of death is removed from Plath’s father’s death (essentially a suicide) and her own suicidality, it enables Plath to inhabit a different kind of self than we see in poems such as “Laddy Lazarus,” or “Daddy.” She presents and perceives death in a kind of slow motion, and from various perspectives, including that of children who are watching the burial after a pilgrimage has been made to the grave.
It is really an amazing poem - the “I” speaks with such force - both the force of death and that of life. Needless to say, no obligation, but Patti, it would be great to hear you read “Berck-Plage,” or any poem from “Ariel.” I’m suggesting “Berck-Plage” since it’s less well known and, I think, wrongly so.
Copyright laws are preventing my pasting it here, but it’s available online as well as in “Ariel.”
Thank you for this visit, Patti, and warm wishes to everyone, as ever,
Robin
Hi Patti. Well I just think you’re the cats pajamas. I get such a lift every time there’s a new substack. Thank you for letting us join you in your home. Enjoy Rockaway!
I hope you got my card 🫶🏻
Love the house! Looks like the perfect place to escape to. Thank you for sharing with us <3
Hi Patti always your happy, healthy mind and radiance gives us joy ♡ helpers are fine gifts from the universe and the art of poets, universal. Such simple living after work & travels. We honor your allowances; the entry into routes of history's minds we now may open to explore, and, mostly, hope for our future on Earth ♡ grateful to you ♡
G'day Patti, a homey little kitchen in the background and good to see your well. Keep safe ohh forgot thankyou for the reading suggestion 🙃☕️🌈
Thank you so much for sharing these photos! i particularly love your "table of interchanging objects" as I realize I too have one. i kept wanting it to be an altar but it has had interchanging objects on it forever with me being frustrated with myself for not committing to what i "thought" it should have on it as an "altar". currently it has some of my mother's ashes in a beautiful Asian urn type container, one of my kitties ashes, and then different photos of my mum, some with me in them, over the years . . . thank you Patti!!
An alter has no rules save love.
Dear Patti, I just had an idea to make a small photo book of altar spaces and was wondering if I could use your photo of "table of interchanging objects" and use your quote "An altar has no rules save love." Would I need to go through a manager... I assume it would not be legal to use it without asking. This isn't for profit just inspiration (self published) but understand if a person of your stature needs to be more formal- I understand if asking on your platform is a little too forward but was suddenly inspired and not sure how else to ask. Perhaps it's divine inspiration ;) p.s. unrelated but Lenny Kaye lives in my hometown. He lives next door to my professors. I went to his yard sale as a teenager and we got to talking about music. He hooked me up with some great lps/cds including 'Horses' in a care package he sent me which blew my mind. I never put it together until 10 years later that he played on the album ;) -such humility-a heart of gold and a local hero of mine and you became one too once I memorized the poetry of 'Horses'. - Anyway thanks for making a platform where we can connect to you. I am thankful for Lenny for introducing me to you nearly 20 years ago and thanks to you - my library is overflowing with books you have mentioned in your own books. Love that you walk the same NJ beaches as I played on as a child. Now, I am writing in to say hello from Tokyo xo (((0))) -Jamie
Love seeing this place and you looking so content and happy 😊
Patti, Thank you for letting us in. Your Rockaway home reminds of the bungalow I rented in the West End of Long Beach, throughout eighties / early 90's. The kitchen looks indentical. It was a great hidaway. My place was very small... I had to go outside to change my mind.
You are a delight as fresh air sweeping through cedars 💚thank you love your kitchen chats
Thank you Patti for sharing the little snapshot of your Rockaway abode. Your messages are a lovely link all the way down here to Australia. It's a very generous gesture on your part.
We all need help with our weeds from time to time. 💗💗💗
Thanks for sharing an inside look of your lovely home! It looks like such a peaceful, relaxing place! Enjoy re-reading your Sylvia book and have a lovely evening!!
You froze a couple of times but great to see your Rockaway Beach abode. Ariel!
Thank you, Patti, for generously sharing your home with us . . . it's a beautiful space. Seeing and hearing you brought light to my day.
Completely charming! I love your Rockaway house kitchen. Just perfect.
The internet guy must have been excited!
Love you Patti
St Francis was always my favourite of the saints. Brother Sun, sister Moon a favourite too ! 🤎
Beautiful! Thank you! I love the simplicity.
beautiful home. xoxom
Thank you for sharing your wonderful little house. I love house tours! Fun post.
Goodnight Patti Smith and thanks for the grounding xxx
Enjoy Sylvia at your Rockaway Retreat. Thanks for touching base. 🌸
Cool space, with just the essentials. Thanks for sharing it with us. Looks like a great way to avoid distractions and focus on creativity ...or beach walks ...or weeds. Although all distractions are readily available again now that the internet is fixed...
Patti, I’m happy you have a chance to be still. The folks at Ghost Ranch did a beautiful job helping me with a place to sleep. I’ll be the little person in Coyote 10. Perhaps we might stumble into one another along the path or paying homage to the moon. 🙏
Loved this, its the simple things like the toaster that bring us such joy!
I imagine a glorious tone emanating from the metal bowl sitting on the table. Maybe sometime you can show us. Happy time in Rockaway to you, Patti.
Thank you for sharing your nice little house … I love your simplicity , sense of essence…
It’s comforting to see you. Thank you for all the care you put into your posts.
Just love you, Patti!
Seems you were a nun/monk in another realm...and so much more of course! Still here: dismantling and rearranging until Truth is fully revealed. Thankyou for your sharing 💗
Lovely light in your little house
I love your table of objects! I also change the things on my desk every few days - beautiful things, memories, tender tokens - and tactile things too. Cold stones are the best!
I feel the same about Sylvia. In fact, Sylvia, Frida, Lauren Bacall and YOU have been my icons for so very long now. Lauren since I was 11, you since 16 - and now I'm 60. You've all lit my path beautifully.
I grew up on Beach 66 Street from 1946-1966. Much different then than it is now. So many fond memories.
Loved seeing your little getaway place. Thanks so much for giving us a glimpse. Would love to see the unruly yard, too! Enjoy. Unwind. Stay safe. And say hello to the ocean!
Your 'retreat' home looks so peaceful - thank you for sharing the photos. Love the floor! Hope you are enjoying the beach and your garden -once the weeds are tackled!.
Holy Moly, Patti! Don’t trip on that rug & fall on that tile floor! Please wear those slip-proof socks!
Thanks for letting us in to a little corner of your world😊
Rockaway makes me think of Coney island and then of course Coney Island Baby and whether you were part of closing backing vocal though uncredited. Lovely touch to that song, missing Lou .
It’s very generous and kind of you to share your little sanctuary with us. Very special. It looks cozy and peaceful. Always really lovely to hear from you. Thank you.
It is always good to hear from you. I love your Rockaway cottage. Thanks again for always brightening my day!
So, sitting here smiling as you sit smiling in your beach house. I, too, have all simple Sears appliances as well as a formica countertop and a simple toaster that belonged to my husband Dave’s aunt. All the appliances are old (as am I at 78!), but they, and I, are all in tip top condition! I hear many stories of new, ‘state of the art’ appliances continually having issues due at times to their complexity. Being Italian and having grown up eating only fresh, home cooked meals, I continue that tradition and spend many many hours in my kitchen preparing good food. I am very much looking forward to seeing you at Count Basie, and wish I could have you all to my house for an old fashioned Italian feast!!! An open invitation always! (Oh, and I’ve had some counseling with Jesse, a very compassionate young woman.)
I do like, love all of it, dear Patti, connecting to Sylvia Plath, the timespane you read her poetry, this humble and yet stunning home you let us in.
♥️
Thanks for inviting us into your other home, Patti. From your writings, it's obvious how much it means to you but it remains rather mysterious to me (and maybe your other fans and readers, as well). Please bring us more from this miraculous place. And your longtime fans will know why it's considered 'miraculous'.
🌻 ♥️
your style is unmatched Patti
This is the absolute best! Seeing the inside of your Rockaway home. Magic.
Thank you so much for welcoming us in. xx
Far Rockaway.. very cool, good seeing and hearing you.
Patti, your Rockaway house is one of my favorite characters of yours! I loved reading about it in M train and I love seeing it here now. It's my dream to one day have a space that's truly mine, realized in the image that i envision. Especially delighted by the table of interchangeable objects. Thanks as ever for the inspiration, and be well as summer turns to fall.
-Jaclyn Backhaus
Love u Patti
I just love u. You are so zen. 🙏💜😎
It’s your she shed! It’s adorable and very conducive to creativity I’m sure!❤️🌞🧘♀️
Did I hear the ocean waves or was it my imagination?
Hello back to you Patti! I'm glad your internet is working and that a weed intervention has taken place in the yard. I agree with you about Sylvia Plath. I love her poetry. I don't find her depressing because of the way she uses language.
lovely to see you in such a calm and thoughtful place. It felt so gently inspiring to see you there.
Brick floor is beautiful!
Hi Patti. Thanks for a picture of your cute beach house. Love and inspired by how sparse it is.
Thanks for the visit and inspiring me to declutter my packed little beach house in Long Beach CA. Looking forward to see you in Sept in LA.
Thanks, gail
Ideal on all levels. 🐚
Thank you for letting us into your wonderful home. You are a breath of fresh air, sunshine and love.
Thank you for the film from Rockaway. What a unique and charming space. Your description in "M Train" of the creation your Rockaway home lodged in my memory and provided the inspiration for a little backyard room that we designed during the early days of the pandemic. You continue to inspire in so many ways. xo
beautifull lil place. good for meditation, creation, a bit of full moon gardening.
Patti, you're living where I had my happiest childhood moments, Rockaway, aka the Jewish Riviera. Days on the sand with salt in my hair, eves on the boardwalk playing skee ball. I read your book in which you spoke about buying a bungalow there, and was so jealous (still am!). Enjoy it.
A charmed connection - thank you
Hey Patti! Thanks for showing us your place. Looks like a cozy hideaway and I bet you get lots of inspiration there. As for the weeds, we've all been there! Keep rocking!
Plath was the best poet of all the so-called "Confessionalists." Better than Lowell, better than Berryman, Sexton, all of them -- and far beyond Ted Hughes. So sweet to see Ariel here and to know it was gifted to you by fellow genius Mapplethorpe. I've been thinking about his flower photos lately, as the flowers begin to fade around here and autumn slowly makes its approach.
Could you be more charming? I love your personal posts and I enjoy thinking of you in the 70s and onstage with power!
Hi Dear Patti! It is a beautiful day. I could listen to you for hours! I Lived in the Rockaways between 1978-2021…… is was 28 when I moved there. I sold my condo on SFP and moved east to old stony Brook which also has water within walking distance… a tiny beach. My street is rustic and overgrown with graceful old trees. I love trees…. They balance me. I do miss the foody summertime in RB! In the Rockaway Hotel there is a tabletop book and you are in it !
I had to explain to the youthful desk agent who you are and he was quite interested I. Hearing little tidbits. When the Hurricane hit, my condo was totally destroyed as well as my car. I had to live elsewhere for almost two years during its rebuild. I lost items that were irreplaceable …. Though they are in my heart and my minds eye.
I learned that “less is more” over time. It was a message of liberation . I needed to shed my skin and renew. I have and I am quite serene now.
You are amazing
Hi Patti, it's so nice to let us get a glimpse of your lovely place. It seems quiet, peaceful.
You're so cute, Patti.
It’s always nice to have a visit from you, Patti. When u first attacked the weeds and said softly, “I’m sorry” some commenters thought u were addressing the weeds. But I understood you were apologizing to your garden putti sculpture. Was I correct? Ps I always like your visits fr your room w Cairo. Have fun today!
Sorry to it all.
Thank you for giving us a peek into your hideaway. The stone floor is beautiful. It looks like somewhere in Italy. You have a nice amount of space. I thought it was much smaller. It‘s so nice to be busy, then when so much is done to sit back and survey the new look. I love that with garden work. My sporadic weed thinnings always provide a dramatic change.
I love your warm and inviting kitchen!
How wonderful to get a greeting from Rockaway. (I always think of the Ramones when I hear that name. 'Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum...') A few weeks ago I finished Heather Clark's stunning biography of Sylvia Plath, Red Comet. Visceral and vulnerable are the perfect words. It's true that there's no one like her. There's no one like you either, Patti. Thanks as always for keeping in touch.
I love you and your darling house.
🖤🖤
I’m going to order Ariel.  I just finished reading M Train. It was so so lovely. 
Hello Patti 👋
Is Cairo with you at Rochaway ?
I don't remember in which book or interview you talked about your home in Rockaway.
This made me want to re-read the magnificent "Just Kids" which will be my book for the coming weekend.
I love you Patti. I hope to see you again soon in Paris 🇫🇷❤️☕️
What a great spot. So great to hear from you today as I prepare to go to Burning Man and work on making some art. Despite the chaos of the universe, life continues. Enjoy your reading. XXOO
Love that place! Perfect.
Thanks for letting us in and sharing your day!
Hi Patti! It's wonderful to see you, to see a bit of your beach house and to hear your stories. Love you!
Beautiful post ! Thanks for sharing the moments just as they are !❤️🙏🏻🌿
Thank you for sharing your special home, Patti. It’s so healthy to get away to serene places from time to time. Ii loved reading about it in M Train and it feels very sacred to be invited in now to hear your thoughts and reflections.
Thanks Patti pour ta maison à rockway
En février j ai voulu allez te voir mais il faisait nuit et je suis rentrée
C était après ton concert 🎵 où je suis venu de France à port chester et Brooklyn steel
Merci toujours de nous faire confiance
Je t embrasse
Ann du pays de Rimbaud
❤
Your inner net is definitely worrying. Much love from the Hudson Valley!
So peaceful
Trying to go to ladder to the moon festival. Any extra places to stay for the festival, an xtra nook ?
Hello from Slovakia.. Sending love❤️
Whos taking care of Cairo?
Adorable place. I have so many fond memories of Rockaway.
It's nice that you have different places to spend time at.
The books...a place without books is naked. Love that you cherish and reexperience the ones you love..
So lovely to see your shed! Also, I love the fact that, besides from Plath, you are enjoying 'Frida Kahlo: Her Photos'! You have such a good taste for everything, Patti. We love you dearly. So happy I got to meet you in Paris for the RM retrospective. —J. Peces
It looks like those may be the old cabinets, which is sustainable and lovely. Thank you for lifting our spirits, thank you for this gift from Rockaway.
Thank you for welcoming us into your beach cottage! I love the kitchen and your bedroom! Beautiful home Patti! :)
Hi Patti! I’ve been doing so much catching up on your European travel videos with the beautiful photos and stories ( Leonardo’s grape vines!) that when I saw that I was only 9 minutes after you posted, it felt like a Zoom meeting , and I almost waved back! I love your little house in Rockaway, it feels familiar from reading M Train. You look well. 🎼🎶🧑💻 Muriel (aka Miki)
I love that you return to beloved books. I find great comfort in doing the same.
Sending much love and appreciation ❤️
I was born in Iran and moved to La many years ago…
I have all your books …
I love your music i always have.. my daughter many years ago asked me if i read “ just kids”
She said i must since that will be very close to my friendship with my late friend Reza Abdo… 💔 a brilliant young theatre
Director…
Thank you for what you bring to us 🍀
Since my many readings of M Train I wondered about your beach house. And voila, there it is. Very evocative of spaces I’ve been in in Chile and a bit in New Mexico. Be well.
Hello from Paris, so far from Rockaway ! An ocean between us...
Your little house is almost monastic. I really like this idea of simplicity, where only the essential remains.
Lots of love.
Thanks for sharing your happy little home.
I had no idea you’d be talking about Sylvia when I clicked this link. What a treat! I know several Ariel poems by heart. She and you are probably the two artists I admire most - I’m grateful you’re still alive so I can tell you that because I was born the year Robert gave you that copy Ariel and I could never tell Sylvia how mush she has inspired me all my life.
Yay for your working internet! 😺
Have you ever read "The Soul and A Loaf of Bread" - ? sufi poetry, my favorite book so far ever discovered. Abol Hassan.
A big hello and hug back from this part of the planet: The Lowlands! x Rob
Thank you for inviting us to your kitchen table for a little chat. I'm looking forward to more!
... what an excellent fine place, everything seems to have its poetic truth there. thank you patti – always JOY seeing / hearing / reading you. anne
Great to see you at home at the beach! Don’t forget to jump in the water today and float around a bit, too.
Love the st Francis painting, would love to see a close up. I'm reading Rilke at the moment, another visceral and vulnerable poet. Thanks for sharing patti. God Bless You.
Hi Patti,
J. Melvin Woody (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Connecticut College) regretted that he never introduced Sylvia Plath to Yoko Ono, whom he had dated. He told Plath’s biographer, Heather Clark, “Yoko was clearly the most beautiful girl, but she was Japanese so no one was dancing with her.” He stopped dating Yoko before becoming serious. She was shy and told him that she had attempted suicide at age fifteen. He saw that she was fragile and he didn’t want to hurt her. Yoko later invited Woody to visit her at Cambridge University. He declined.
You would love my new book about Yoko! Thank you for being her close friend!
In Your Mind - The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
by Madeline Bocaro
A complete look at Yoko Ono's life, art, films and music in astounding detail.
Includes the love story of John and Yoko, and all the work they did together.
558 pages
See my website for reviews and more info:
https://inyourmindbook.com
Lovely. A wonderful get-a-way.
hi patti! i will be on B67 soon, and love that you are also in the rockaways this afternoon...that really makes me smile...i will spend a couple hours on the sand, then will head up the boardwalk to B97 to get some food before heading back home to brooklyn...glad your internet is back up and working and that syvia is keeping you happy...enjoy your rockaways sojourn ❤️☀️
Took my friend Joel of 50 years to Rockaway from Brooklyn the other day...after being struck by a van in the city 6 years ago he is still recovering so it was good to get him outta his regular spots. Found a little outdoor Thai spot called Moon Lot on 96th...I don’t tend to eat Thai food in America unless it’s advised to me ....as in Australia we have it in spades.
But it’s a sweet little spot with vegan options etc ...outdoors under umbrellas....wear a hat no one will recognise you!
X
Thanks🙏
Your little house looks so serene. Thank you for sharing.
PS: is Cairo there?
“My table of interchanging objects”….I have more than one!
Hi! :)
Where? I know if a Rockaway, Oregon. It’s dear to my heart.
oh yeah, I did send photos to your Facebook site..