Boat Rides and Year of the Monkey

I just finished Year of the Monkey, by Patti Smith. I was born the year of the monkey and felt a certain kinship with the book before even reading it, so when it arrived in the mail on my birthday (yay!) I was very pleased. At first, I thought I would parse it out, allowing myself the time to take in all the beauty and music of her writing. It was consumed quickly. 

Through out the book are black and white polaroid images shot by Patti Smith; they are quiet pauses, rich with textural questions, at times haunting with an underlying sadness.

I’m using my leg in a big old heavy cast an excuse to have “scheduled” afternoon sleepy reads before the evening news…another means to seek inspiration, right?

Her images have inspired me to share some of mine which are going into a zine of visual poetry I am working on.