Long Softball Poems

NOTE: This is the final THIRD of a funny 3-part poem. You'll find the 1st and 2nd parts on my homepage, of course. I hope you'll take the time to read the whole thing, it's...

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Sixty-eight and Sixty-nine
By Franklin Price
02/03/2022

In January sixty-eight, I was sent to Vietnam,
Was no internet back then, no Facebook, only Spam
I went to serve my country. Had signed the line in sixty-five
Going there to do my...

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It was deep in the 1980s, and I was deep into my late 30s.                     ...

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It was the summer of my 16th year. Mother encouraged me to spend part of my summer vacation with Granddad, a self-professed stoic. I reluctantly agreed, for he was a peculiar man. I couldn’t imagine...

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1. Write a poem
2. Call up an old friend
3. Read a book
4. Make sandwiches to save for later
5. Call your mom
6. Go for a walk
7. Go for a jog
8. Draw fantastical creatures
9. Eat healthy snacks
10....

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This is to my daughter, who has yet to be conceived.
I will love you as I have never loved another.
I make this promise now, from you I will never leave.
I will always be there for...

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I opened Paris' letter and cry


my heart dropped
my fingers trembled
I opened Paris' letter
mama it's been three days ...
then the dam burst, 
not the happy kind
unregretfully
the kind that spells gloom
sobs of tears roll down my face
uncontrollably...

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Beautiful land in the distance,
Heading there in consistence,
Mountains far but so close,
Leading us to a touch of prose.
Hear me for our worlds at peace,
Bend the map; make a crease.
Here we arrive,
After that 12 hour drive.
Colorado...

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To Eat A Peach

Spring is here.
The delicate tree blossoms replace
     the delicate white lights of Winter.
From the petals fruit will grow.

Pears, plums, apricots, cherries,
       nectarines...
Peaches.

I...

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To know just where your're going

You must know where you've been

You must respect the history

The things others have seen

It's true in all things relative

Be it music, sports or life

If you don't know where you came...

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Nineteen sixty-nine
By Franklin Price
5/22/2019

The year was nineteen sixty-nine
A year for change and to adjust
Had just returned from Viet Nam
Was alone, without much trust

Married when I went away
January sixty-eight
Received “Dear John” on April Fool
It's a long...

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Piercing screams slice the air
Creating a sense of joy with laughter
Coloring the moments in exhilaration
Left behind from some child’s imagination

Echoes of small feet darting and sprinting
Leaving stirrings of complete abandonment
The knowing that comes from sharing...

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Everyday when his dad came home he was waiting there
This was the special time that his dad always had to share

He taught him to throw and to catch how to swing his bat
Every game he...

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So why does it end with the love lies?
Now once you got to Jr. High
People were cruel, it was hard to get by
Getting depressed in the circle of life
But now girls are better, more shapely...

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I'd say it was late Spring or early Fall in 1954, a quiet time
in American history; and Mr. Eisenhower was The President.
There was a sweet and kind teacher hard at work,
teaching  kindergartners how to...

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It’s funny how my father’s hobby became mine. He has been a sportsman all his life, he played basketball, volleyball and softball all his youth, but his real passion is soccer and even though he...

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It is so hard in this day and age of blurred lines, wrecking balls and falling trees  to challenge students to see the right side of things,
The way Jesus made others see.  
He...

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She comes to bat with the score tied three to three.
Staring out at the pitcher,
she goes into her stance, 
just hoping the ball will come over the sweet part of the plate.
Into her motion, the...

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The Saint John River rolls along 
Under skies of baby blue, 
Touching lives of country folk 
Just the way it used to do 
Before the war to better times, 
When steamboats churned and church bells...

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Football, volleyball, baseball, softball, 
Racquetball, handball, basketball, hardball. . . . 
There're lots of sports in the world you play with a ball, 
And you can't play any of them if you're an oddball. 

If...

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I was very young when, I first tasted it;
that sweet, milky nectar of the Gods.

One Easter morning it appeared in a basket, 
on our piano bench and it was wrapped in shiny foil; 
all colors...

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I think of how you must have been
in bygone days with friends from your boyhood.
From things you’ve said, I picture you back then
blazing trails and camping in the Cincinnati Wood.

And then perhaps you stood a...

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Coach Bob Savage
was one of the greatest
coaches in Des Moines
High School History.

During his stay
at East High School,
he coached football,
baseball and softball.

Coach Savage led
East to 477 victories
in softball, 198 in baseball
and 102 in football.

He may never...

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"M&M's turned 75!", my son tells the cashier at Walgreen's. He doesn't know her, but with contagious excitement, she smiles and says, "Oh, really! Wow!". He see's this as an invitation to pepper her for...

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I awoke this morning to find a foot and half of snow all around covering the ground.  I 
quickly got dressed wearing several layers of clothes.  Plus a winter mask to protect my...

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