Recorded Reading (2:22): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yexm6h2azfi04i64aqbxh/I-m-Sorry-May-Bell.mp3?rlkey=dufnstbvgyx6y37nkqtgeoeb7&dl=0

*****

May Bell the guitar has been featured in a small but growing series of poetry and prose, among them our recently offered “Repair Estimate Request,” available by search bar at page bottom.

Acquired under dubious circumstances in a back country thrift store, and with all ornamentation (including her name in all its misspelled glory at the tuning pegs) stencilled on, a big safety pin holding her strings up off the neck far enough to be played without buzzing and, yes, cracks in her woodwork, she still outperforms sisters twice her size and ten times her asking price upon the fateful day on which this poet, as they say, “first laid eyes on ‘er.”

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I’m Sorry, May Bell

May Bell, you look a little worn
You look a little tired
I’m wonderin’ if you and I
Have become retired

When we weren’t lookin’ did somebody
Put us two to pasture out?
That is what this piece of
Poetry is all about

A couple cracks ma woodwork in
Just about like you
A little dusty in the seams
About like you too

Ma neck’s a little kinky, yep,
Our neck’s a little bent
An’ we don’t rightly know to where
Some of our tuning went

Sometimes we get it up again
We get a bit inspired
But truth be tellin’, honey
We were only wired (ouch!)

You’ve always bin high strung, my dear,
You’ve bin wound a bit tight
But still the two of us managed
To bring the people some delight

I know if you’re a little worn
It’s ’cause I gave you a hard run
With far too many hardships
And far too little fun

So before you get down to
Upon yourself begin
Be sure of one thing, honey ~
I’d never trade y’ in!

*****

Until removal of the stalker/targeter/vandal/arsonist following her allows her to approach any landlord ~ even for a private parking space ~ and to begin once again to create professional connections and to rebuild her life, this poet presently lives homeless and at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level ~ still working seven days a week to contribute to her society, however.

Arts patrons may visit http://www.UgiftABLE.com , using code #72D-31S, or choose to send a personal check to the poet’s ABLE account. It takes about two weeks for the poet to be notified of your patronage.

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