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Best Poems Written by Michael Bell

Below are the all-time best Michael Bell poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Michael Bell Poem

The Artist and the Poet

I sat myself upon a hill to get a better view,
Of the valley down below wet with morning dew.
As I pondered my first lines, an artist came around,
With paints and brushes in his bag, an easel on the ground.

I watched him go about his task of setting all just right,
Mixing up his colors to let his brush take flight.
In my mind I sought the words and phrases to convey,
The beauty of the landscape – the wonder of the day.

And so we started working as if within a rage,
He upon his canvas and I upon my page.
His colors leapt from off his brush at seeming lightning speed,
My metaphors were dancing ‘round, happy to be freed.

Broad, his strokes that made the sky and little squiggle lines,
That made the shapes of bushes and tall and slender pines.
And, green, the meadow brought to life with yellow daffodils,
Orange, the leaves of hardwood trees scattered on the hills.

My pen, too, was hard at work describing what was there,
The wildlife and the fauna, the smell upon the air.
Little things I brought to life for everyone to see,
Singing birds and butterflies – a single bumblebee.

So lifelike was the artist’s work, I had to give him praise.
He asked to read my poem and, after, seemed amazed.
For we had told the story of this valley and the wood,
The artist and the poet, so much alike we stood.

Details | Michael Bell Poem

Homeless

The rain was pouring, thunder in the distance
Her tattered coat offered no resistance
I saw her walking, soaking wet
Filled with anger and regret

Cast aside from all she’s known
Living in a cardboard home
I had to know what caused her fate
What filled her heart with all this hate

I stopped the car and called her near
She looked at me with eyes of fear
I said, “I’d like to chat with you”
She said, “chatting’s all we’ll do”

She climbed inside, we drove away
Stopped at a coffee shop along the way
I asked what had happened in her life
Why she wasn’t someone’s wife

She said, “I was, I had it all
Husband, kids, shopped at the mall
But we lost our love, I began to stray
He took the kids and went away”

“I had no skills, never went to school
Looking back now, I was such a fool
Pretty soon, the house was gone
I was out on the street and all alone”

“Husband told the kids I was nothing but trash
So, I guess my family’s all in the past
Now, I wander around, stop at the kitchen
They give me some food and listen to my bitchin”

“They think I’m crazy and that’s okay
If they were in my shoes, they wouldn’t last a day
It’s a hard life out here, you get beat up and spit on
But sometimes, someone will toss you a bone”

“And they’ll tell you not to spend it all on booze
Hell, a drink or some food - it’s not hard to choose
You get used to eating the dumpster food
But when you get a buck or two, hot food’s so good”

I had bought her the special, she was eating it slow
Didn’t want to go out in the rain, I know
We talked a while longer, then I had to leave
I handed her a twenty, she tucked it in her sleeve

I asked the manager if she could stay for a while
He looked at her and gave me a smile
He said she could stay till the rain let up
And he walked over to fill up her coffee cup

I was walking past her, she grabbed my hand
She said, “It doesn’t take much to get where I am
It could just as easily be you sitting here”
I walked away fighting back a tear

It’s true what she said, just a paycheck away
A bad set of circumstances on any given day
Now I look at the homeless a whole different way
I don’t pass them by with nothing to say

I look in their eyes and I see their pain
I do what I can to help them regain
A little of the dignity, lost to the world
Before their life had become unfurled.

Details | Michael Bell Poem

Memories

You found me –
Wandering through your thoughts
Tending to your memories of me
As the old gardener tends his prized flowers

And you smiled -
Your eyes got a little sparkle in them
You felt a warm blush inside

There I stood -
Just as I was the last time you saw me
And you clasped your arms around yourself
Breathing in deeply – remembering my scent

You felt the comfort of my love
And you missed that
It was a better time for both of us

So, there you have kept me
For all these years
Tending to your memories of me
As the old gardener tends his prized flowers.

Details | Michael Bell Poem

A Thousand Whispers

A thousand whispers wrap around me
They’re all your voice but it just can’t be
You left me here so long ago
I listen closely, now I know

It’s all the times you said, “I love you”
Words I thought were really true
They came so freely from your lips
But cost me dearly, made me slip

To the edge of despair as you walked away
A state I’m in to this very day
I try to ignore them, they won’t get out
They turn from a whisper into a shout

Taunting me, haunting me, driving me mad
They make me regret the love that we had
But I don’t regret it, it’s part of my life
Glorious days when you were my wife

So I live with your voice inside of my head
Wishing most days that I was dead
But each time I try to put down the pain
I hear you whisper “I love you” again.

Details | Michael Bell Poem

A Poet

I have no voice but for these silent words
That fall from thought to the empty page;
As softly as the snow falls to the ground
Or as thunderously as the rain from the storm.

I speak to no one but I speak to all.
Those who listen will find something.
Something to cling to;
Some hope in a dreary world;
Kindness in a time of sadness;
Light for their darkness;
A kindred spirit that holds them close;
A loving parent that lets them go.

I peek into your lives and you peek into mine
And together we find our common ground.
For I am a translator of your dreams,
Guardian of your secrets;
I am - a poet.