Mike Bedell's Poetry Corner

standing at life's crossroads
held back by my fears
i find my strength and courage
in my childhood souvenirs.​

When this world gets cold and lonely
icy wind nipping at my ears
i find my warmth and comfort
in my childhood souvenirs.​

Yes, these memories of my childhood
they mean so much to me
they remind me of my innocence
when my spirit ran so free.​

But now that ive grown older
the world is tugging at my sleeve
i carry the burden on my shoulder
of not knowing who or what to believe​

so i hold on to these childhood memories
for unlike silver or gold
they cant be taken from me
nor can they be bought or sold.​

Yes, these memories of my childhood
are more precious than all the rest
for though they were the simplest of times
they were me at my very best​

 

great poem mike!!! i love it too

 

my lonliness cries out to the sun's setting glow
"stay a little longer! Please dont go!
Dont let the nighttime have its way
why cant it be foever day?"​

for the nighttime is not a friend of mine
it amplifies my lonliness so clear and defined.
It brings out lovers hand and hand
while me in my lonliness, alone i stand.​

I see the love in their eyes as they pass by,
lit by the lovers moon that fills the sky.
So hurry sunrise and bring back your light
to chase away this lonely night.​

But what am i saying? And just who am i?
To want to rearrange the sky.
And even if were forever day
that wuoldnt chase my lonliness away.​

Daytime only offers visual distractions
and more things to do for self-satisfaction.
So ive re-evaluated myself and the night
from a spiritual point of view and made it alright.​

I now have the choice as my spirit has shown
i can choose to be lonely,
or just be alone.​

 

all great poems mike. welldone!

 

remember when we were children
and the way we used to play??
when candy bars and soda pop
would get us through our day.
we were a ragged bunch of wide eyed kids
with scratches, scrapes and smiles.
and within the span of half a day
we could travel ten thousand miles.
the playground was a jungle,
an empty lot, a battlefield.
a stick of wood, our trusty sward
a garbage can lid, our shield.
we were heroes in jeans and sneakers
the victories all were ours.
from indians and gladiators, to visiters from mars.
from tiger hunts in india to raging wars in rome,
we'd say goodbye when the sun went down
and head on back for home.
at the door, our mothers would greet us
and stare at us in shock,
but when she'd ask us where we'd been,
we'd say "just over on Johnnie's block"

​

 

EMPTY BAGS,
EXPIRED LICENSE PLATE TAGS,
RENT OVERDUE, ELECTRICAL TOO.
SOOT COVERED SPOONS,
EMERGENCY ROOMS,
FEVER AND CHILLS,
LOSS OF ALL SOCIAL SKILLS,
THAT WAS MY LIFE ON DRUGS.

STEALING AND LYING,
MY FAMILEY HOME CRYING,
MONEY ALL GONE, NOTHING TO PAWN,
FEAR, DEPRESSION, COMPULSION, OBSESSION,
GOD HEAR MY PRAYER
LET THE CONNECTION BE THERE.
THAT WAS MY LIFE ON DRUGS.

HOLES IN MY ARMS, BURGLAR ALARMS,
HERE COMES THE HEAT,
COP CAR BACK SEAT,
HANDCUFFS AND JAIL,
NO O.R. OR BAIL,
FEELINGS OF IMPENDING DOOM,
CHEAP MOTEL ROOM,
FRIENDS DYING OF A.I.D.S,
PEEKING OUT OF WINDOW SHADES,
NO SPIRITUALITY CANT FACE REALITY.
WANTIMG TO DIE, AFRAID TO TRY,
AND SAYING ALL THE WHILE
"IM NOT IN DENIAL
I JUST NEED A GOOD REASON TO STOP"

p.s. that perty much says what my life on drugs was like
and if you are dealing with a drug problem i hope that
these words of naked truth will offer you a glimps of reality
thank you for letting me share my heart with y'all
J.mike bedell

​

 

well, im still not able to show my visual art pieces so i feel ok swith filling my corner with written words. this poem is long but also long overdue to be written so that my ears can hear what my heart has to say.

THE UNSETTLED DUST IN AN OLD HIPPIES HEAD.
my existance seems to be somewhere in that vast greyness between fact and fiction. between real and unreal, between is and isnt. i feel As though im drifting in an ocean of confussion, my only simile of navigation is this core felt lonliness, which jumps to point in one direction and then in another. it has become clear to me that no matter which direction i choose it will always lead me away from where i want to be.
i have drifted in these tides and currents for what seems to be eons, all the while the sun steadily grows hotter by fueling itself on my fears and guilt.
the heat beats down and blisters the expoased flesh of my heart and my hopes. i often wonder if i will ever find my way out of this situation and then again which way is out??? is it left? is it right? is it up? is it down? and then again, which way is left? which way is right? which way is up? which way is down? in a last ditch effort to obtain some sort of a navigational landmark, i
cast my memory like a fisherman casting a lure into my images of a time long forgotten, the 1960s and 70s, san francisco, the haight, golden gate park, a grassy green meadow, flowers, love, peace, music, the greatful dead,
the jefferson airplane. suddenly, the whole meadow turns into a landscape of dead dried thissles and thorns littered with broken budweiser beer bottles, long haired lovers are being dragged across the razor sharp glass edges. their jagged wounds bleeding lyrics of an old jimmy hendricks song, sounding as though it was being played on a fisher price wind up record player. their lips are wispering "all you need is love" their eyes screaming
"ALL WE GET ARE LIES" My minds eye begins to strobe in and out of insanity, like an old filmore west rock concert. i find myself grabbing at pieces of my mind, which are floating in the air all around me like paper confetti. everything that i thought i knew about honesty, truth, fairness, justice, respect, loyalty, love and compassion had been shattered.
frantically, i try to put the pieces back together, building on the obscure image of the meadow and the bleeding long haired lovers. i add a thought
like a picture puzzle piece; this is america, this is uncivil, this is a war, this
is an AMERICAN UNCIVIL WAR; for revolutionaries are fighting for change,
for justice, for peace, for honesty, for integrity, for truth. the government is fighting for freedom; freedom to continue fleecing its population, manipulating third world countries. freedom to continue drafting americas youth and sending them thousands of miles from american shores to die fighting a war that can not be won, a war that was set up not to be won.
all across america the youth are speaking up against the unjustices of their government. In an attempt to control my thoughts i begin to think in poetic verse.

THE CIVIL WAR WAS LONG AGO
THE NORTHS ARMY AGAINST THE SOUTHS
IT WAS FOUGHT WTH GUNS AND SWARDS
THIS ONE IS BEING FOUGHT WITH MOUTHS
AMERICANS AGAINST AMERICANS
THE BATTLE CRY WAS "PEACE"
AND IN THE UNCIVIL WAR, NO ONE GOT HURT
UNTIL SOMEONE CALLED THE POLICE.
AND THE MILITARY STRATEGIES
CANT COMPARE TO GRANT AND LEE
THEIRE WAR WAS FOUGHT IN THE HISTORY BOOKS
THIS ONE IS ON T.V.
so was Vietnam a smoke screen?
a topic for debate?
a war to show the viewers
while they murdered four students for protesting at Kent State???????

p.s. wow thanks guys i really needed to put that out there so i could clear my mind love y' all J.mike bedell
​

 

i forget to forget about you​

im a hard headed man but i dont understand
why i keep making myself so blue
maybe im lazy or maybe im crazy
but i keep forgetting to forget about you.
When im asleep in my bed, you enter my head
and you love me like you used to do.
But when i open my eyes, what an empty surprise,
i just forgot to forget about you.
Oh, i can chase away your memories
when i remember to forget about you,
but i cant get through the day
without hearing myself say
"im feeling so blue, what else can i do?
But forget to forget about you.
My life feels so empty without you,
and some day ill start love anew,
but until i do, ill feel blue through and through
when i forget to forget about you.
Because those few moments
that we spend together,
when i forget to forget about you,
life seems so sweet, and i feel so complete,
so ill continue to surrender,
and keep being that pretender
who forgets to forget about you.​

all rights reserved except for wilie nelson. Lol​

 

fantastic stuff mike.don't worry the dust will settle mike.just keep puttin' one foot in front of the other and keep on walking towards freedom! one day at a time! and you'll get by with a big help from your friends! ha! ha! an i'd say willie nelson would record that as a song in the morning if he got a chance. keep winnin! mike an writing.:2thumbsup:

 

hi miss roamy and thank you and i will

 

LITTLE VICTORIES​

WHEN I GAZE INTO THE HEVANS
ON A DARK AND STAR FILLED NIGHT
I CAN NOT SEE THE STARS AT ALL
I CAN ONLY SEE THEIRE LIGHT.​

AND WHEN I GAZE UPON A WINDSTORM
I CAN NEVER SEE THE WIND
BUT IM ASSURED OF ITS EXISTANCE
BY THE TREES THAT SWAY AND BEND.​

AND WHEN I GAZE UPON A RIVER
NO MATTER HOW I STARE
THE WATER COMES, THE WATER GOES
BUT THE RIVER STAYS RIGHT THERE.​

AND WHEN I GAZE UPON MY LIFE
ITS SO DIFFICULT TO SEE
BECAUSE LAST NIGHT AND THE MORNING
ALWAYS LOOK THE SAME TO ME.​

BUT I KNOW MY LIFE IS MOVING
SO I GET DOWN ON MY KNEES
AND I THANK MY GOD IN HEVAN
FOR MY little victories.​

 

Amen! another sober an clean day.another victory:2thumbsup:

 

ya got it miss roamy. congratulations on all those little victories ya have pilled up
one day at a time

 

Mike, you're the coolest!

 

ODE TO JOHN LENNON

BROKE, BUSTED, DISCUSTED, BUT STILL CAN BE TRUSTED,
I FIND MYSELF DOWN TO MY LAST DREAM.
IVE ALWAYS HAD SO MANY
BUT SOON I WONT HAVE ANY
I CANT IMAGINE WHAT THATS GOING TO MEAN.
WILL I HAVE TO GO ON WELFARE?
WILL I HAVE TO STAND IN A LINE?
YOU KNOW THOSE GOVERNMENT ISSUED DREAMS
THEY ARENT ENOUGH.
WILL I BE STANDING AT AN OFF RAMP
HOLDING UP A SIGN?
BEGGING FOR SPARE DREAMS
AND OTHER STUFF.
AND JUST WHAT WILL MY SIGN SAY?
AS IM STANDING BY THE FREEWAY
"DREAMLESS, PLEASE HELP, WILL WORK FOR DREAMS GOD BLESS"
WHAT WILL THE GIVERS BE GIVING?
WILL I WANT TO GO ON LIVING?
WELL, IM RESPONCIBLE FOR THIS MESS, I MUST CONFESS.
BUT IVE SEARCHED THROUGH ALL MY POCKETS
AND THE BOTTOM OF ALL MY DRAWERS
YOU KNOW, THOSE PLACES WHERE
YOU CAN USUALLY FIND A LOOSE DREAM OR TWO.
BUT THEYVE BEEN PICKED CLEAN LIKE A BONE
SO MY LAST DREAM STANDS ALONE
AND I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE MY FINAL DREAM WITH YOU.

I DREAM THE AIR IS CLEAN
THAT PEOPLE SAY JUST WHAT THEY MEAN
I DREAM OF AN HONEST POLLITICAN
A WORLD FREE FROM MAL-NUTRICIAN
I DREAM OF SMILES ON CHILDRENS FACES
HARMONEY AMUNGST ALL RACES
I DREAM OF A WORLD UNITED IN RESOLUTION
TO FIND A SOLUTION TO POLLUTION
I DREAM OF A WORLD FREE FROM ALL ADDICTION
SIMPLY BECAUSE REALITY HAS BECOME SWEETER THAN FICTION
YES, I DREAM OF A WORLD MOVING IN ONE DIRECTION
TOWARDS A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION.

WELL, IM GOING TO END THIS POEM RIGHT HERE
AND GET MY ASS IN GEAR, ITS UP TO ME TO HELP THIS DREAM SURVIVE.
BESIDES, JOHN LENNON SAID IT BEST BEFORE HE WAS LAID TO REST

"Give peace a chance and keep imagination alive"
P.S. thats from the center of my heart for all and any likehearted readers
thank you again for letting this old hippie share his heart
mike bedell

​

 

Great poems Mike.Love your stuff!

 

thank you Fairlight "keep coming back ya hear?

mike bedell

 

I will!

 

Oh Mike I am so happy you have found your 'voice'. I knew you would rock this place once you got settled in.

Thank you for filling these pages with myrth and merriment for our joy and entertainment.. so heartfelt and warming are your words of Rhyme.

I love what you've done to the place, and the Bean Bag chair Kenny brought is so cool. I would like to offer some big fluffy pillows to cast about the room and maybe a Hooka in the middle. Is that Sitar music I hear in the distance, what a groovie pad.

Love You All

 

thanks mike. congratdulation on all your victorys to. an welldone! on most recent work of art.:2thumbsup: