So! This week Betty and I visited a favorite place and saw a favorite hero.
Betty’s Response: Come, we’ll break all the rules!
On this Easter week Betty and I headed over to the Old Town School of Folk Music to see…
When I was a kid the first time I was exposed to the “idea” of Patti Smith was during a sketch I saw on Saturday Night Live. Gilda Radner’s Patti Smith parody, “Candy Slice,” was funny to me but even more I had to know who was this Patti Smith. Ha! Over the years I’ve come to love her writing as much as her music. Her memoir, Just Kids, is at the top of my list of beautifully written and inspiring books.
Therefore tonight I was thrilled to hear her sing, play, and read her poems along side her son and daughter. It was especially touching to be in the company of an artist that is honest, humble, hopeful, and sensitive to the humanness that connects us all.
Come – be my April Fool Come – you’re the only one Come – on your rusted bike Come – we’ll break all the rules We’ll ride like writers ride Neither rich nor broke We’ll race through alleyways In our tattered cloaks so Come – be my April Fool Come – we’ll break all the rules We’ll burn all of our poems Add to God’s debris We’ll pray to all of our saints Icons of mystery We’ll tramp through the mire When our souls feel dead With laughter we’ll inspire Then back to life again Come – be my April Fool Come – you’re the only one Be my April Fool You’re the only one Come Come – be my April Fool Come Come – we’ll break all the rules. -Patti Smith
Spring Awakening
(A Celebration of Poetry & Song)
w Jesse Smith, Tony Shanahan, & Jackson Smith
Last, and in keeping with the celebration of spring and all that is blooming, growing, and rejuvenating, Betty and I encourage you to keep your eyes wide open and take note of these artistic expressions while experiencing life and then, of course, SHOW ME WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW!!!!
–The residual purpose of art is purposeless play. This play however, is an affirmation of life–Not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord. -John Cage
My Bike Betty 