Will Da Real One's murder left many questions

Will Sr., Cynthia, Calvin, and their half-siblings led a line of relatives and friends snaking out to the church's parking lot to pay their last respects to the fallen poet. Church volunteers placed folding chairs in the lobby for folks who couldn't find a seat inside the main worship room. And it remained standing-room-only during Will's sendoff.

His high school football teammate Walter Ramsey was one of the first to eulogize Da Real One. Ramsey reminisced about one of their games and read a poem he wrote that he never got to share with Will. "Me and Bell will always be brothers," he said.

Courtesy of Cynthia Bell-Lewis

Will once worked as a homeless outreach coordinator for the state health department. View a photo slide show of Will Bell's memorial service.

Michael McElroy

Rebecca "Butterfly" Vaughns encouraged Will to stick with poetry as a profession.

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View a photo slide show of Will Bell's memorial service.

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Then a video of Malcolm Jamal-Warner played on a large TV screen. Fighting back tears, Jamal-Warner recalled meeting Will and hearing his CD for the first time. "He made me dig down deep," he said. "He made me redefine my work as a poet. My life has been impacted by Will Da Real One."

Six poets, including Youngsta and Anomaly, read Will's works. Anomaly closed the service by reciting a dark poem Will wrote about the painful thoughts Jesus must have experienced when he was nailed to the cross. As she sobbed through the lines, the church grew quiet. Some people gasped at the chilling prose. When she was finished, Anomaly looked up.

"Will was the only brother I ever had," she said. "He adopted me from the moment he first saw me onstage. My mom never met him, but whenever I told her I was going to a spot where Will was at, she knew she didn't have to worry about me." Anomaly also had a message for the folks wanting to know if the Literary Café would continue: "The answer is yes."

At the cemetery, after most of the mourners had departed, four poets remained. Miami wordsmith Marc Marcel, Alabama native Huggy Bear, Tallahassee Black-On-Black-Rhyme troupe member Keith Rogers, and Butterfly took turns shoveling dirt onto Will's casket. When the grave was filled, Butterfly dropped to her knees and wrote a message in the soil:

"Here lies a great poet. Will 'Da Real One' Bell."