A Vision Of Hell Poem by Nellie Isabelle Steward Cooper

A man's life lasts no longer than
the batting of an eye lash,
still a lot of things happen in a lifetime.

I recall when I was a small boy.
Living with my grandfather
on a farm in North Georgia.

Sunday was church day but I did not go.
The preacher in those days used the fear of God
as their theme, hellfire and damnation.

I was afraid to listen.

I had dreams, nightmares and in them I was being chased
by a man with a long beard.

There was a hole he was going to toss me in.

I would wake up sweating and scared,
I know this man must be God.

On Sunday's I would go into the woods
and sit on a log and think;
the sun would shine through the trees
and give a smoky haze of beauty to the woods.

The crickets would all sing in one voice.
God loves the people, the animals, and all things.

The beauty is for all.

Then I knew there was no hell, no fire, no damnation.

Love was the thing man needed.

Not fear.

And then I would cry...! ! !

Because there wasn't anyone I could tell this to.


Michael Arnold Cooper

19 April 1909 - 12 October 1977