60 The Australian Women’s Weekly|OCTOBER 2019
P
attiSmithstandsona tiny
stagein a cavernousmarble
artgalleryin Sydney.She
wearshersignaturejeans,
T-shirt,scruffyoldboots.
She’shereto reada littlepoetry,sing
a coupleof songs,chatinformally
withfans(whorunthegamutfrom
20-somethingfourth-wavefeministsto
gnarlyoldartists).They’reexpecting
maybea littleshouting,a littleswearing
fromthispioneerof theNewYork
punkmovement.Instead,Pattiquotes
hermotherontheimportanceof
countingone’sblessings:
“‘IweptbecauseI hadnoshoes,then
I sawa manwhohadnofeet.’Thatwas
whatmymotheralwaystoldus,”she
says,in hersoftNewJerseydrawl.Then
shegoesonmatter-of-factlyto impress
upontheaudiencetheimportanceof
sensiblewoollensocks.
At72,Pattiseeshermother’s
aphorisms(ofwhichthereweremany)
as solidpreparationforthetravails
thatlifehasflungherway.Shehas
weathered more than her share ofstormssinceher 1975 album,Horses,
tookmusicbythecollarandshookit
hard.Pattihasoutlivedmanyof those
she’slovedbestandhermostrecent
book,TheYearof theMonkey, reads
almostas a meditationonlettinggo.
“Thisis whatI know...”shewrites.
“Mybrotheris dead.Mymotheris
dead.Myfatheris dead.Myhusbandis
dead.Mycatis dead.Andmydogwho
wasdeadin 1957is stilldead.YetstillI
keepthinkingthatsomethingwonderful
is aboutto happen.Maybetomorrow.”
Pattiattributesthistenacioussense
of hopetohermother,Beverly,a big-
heartedJehovah’sWitnesswhowasa
jazzsingerin heryouth,thenraisedfour
childrenwhileworkingas a waitress.
Manyyearslater,shetookonthetask
of answeringPatti’sfanmail,andwould
oftenincludea fragmentof herdown-
homewisdomandoccasionallya
copyof theWitness’newsletter,The
Watchtower, forgoodmeasure.
Patti’sdaughter,Jesse,now32,
describeshergrandmother,whodied
in 2002, as a “generous matriarch,RockpoetPattiSmithandherdaughter,Jesse,chatwithSamantha
Trenowethaboutlove,family,andridingthestormsoflife.
will be
“Tomorrow
wonder ful”
Patti
SMITH