We wanted to share a touching poem by a little known poet, Michael Bell.
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.
Homeless by Michael Bell
