Long Chaplain Poems

The First Thanksgiving (Sept. 3, 1578)

The shortest distance to Cathay 1
(Land of riches: silks, teas and spices)
Lay to the north to the South Sea. 2
Didn’t Barlow tell the King, 3
Was reserved for England.

The routes ‘round...

Read More

“We may think of freedom, not as the right thing to do, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”              ...

Read More

Number six.

"Good morning, my name is David Brown. I'm a humanist chaplain volunteer.
I like to do the rounds and have a natter."

"That's interesting, David. Do sit down. So what motivates you here? 
How do you...

Read More

Story of a Condemned Criminal

In a secluded investigatory chamber
a veteran detective is conducting an examination 
on a suspect who insists he did not commit the crime.

The investigator must commit the suspect for trial
because he arrested...

Read More

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 2


The heaving swell and the waves from hell
Soon swamped our valiant vessel,
With the holds in flood: tattered sails above,
We were in the direst of peril.

In a meet...

Read More

Kindness and Lament

Money never to be found or spare
Funny how people just sit there and stare
Honey now you know this really isn’t fair 
Sunny for those who genuinely care 
Affection for those who are broken...

Read More

Until You Meet Again With Me 
(with love to Barbara)
By Franklin Price
02/23/2022
 
On the evening when God took you, while we held you by the hand,
Your life on earth was over, was hard for me...

Read More

"I never travel without my diary - One should have something sensational to read"
...Oscar Wilde, 1891

30 May 48:  I graduated from high school today now thank God I'm free!
No more doggone homework, perplexing algebra...

Read More

This sort of horrible tragedy actually happened in America's Civil War -


Despite the soft and tepid breeze, the day felt cold and mean,     
As I became a witness to the foulest...

Read More

Continued from The Eye of the Sea part 5


There washed ashore the Devil’s Whore,
Who had three times been paid,
Preserved through Sin and worshippin’
Beelzebub and the grave.

With many a cheer he’d drunk all our beer,
He’d finished...

Read More

The record-keeper compiled a big book
Assuring us that he wasn't a crook
If we'd let him in he'd take a small look
So they'd ensure that we were off the hook

I soon recognized to my frustration
Fate took...

Read More

Beneath my tendrils,
Hidden by waves of despair
Lie Souls lost in storms nightmare
No cross, or family visitors,
 Except crabs and eels 
And curious seals

Picking away at the last semblance
That made them once human
The seas sermon, their...

Read More

Son, I'm so proud that you elected to serve in the United States Marines.
Military service is a family tradition - it just happens to be in our genes!
Your forefathers have worn the uniform since the...

Read More

Not so many years ago "streaking" was the latest fad.
Fellers made a "brief" appearance now and then with nothing clad!
Preachers pounded their pulpits declaring it an abomination,
But broad-minded folks thought it a cause for great...

Read More

The cigar box reposed upon the closet shelf for nigh on fifty years.
Oft his family wondered what it held.  Perhaps some treasured souvenirs?
The old man, a veteran, had fought in the European Theater of...

Read More

His day began with "Reveille" blaring from within the bowels of the ship.
Sergeants yelled, "Up and at 'em lads!   We're takin' a little trip!"
He wearily arose from his bunk to don the accoutrements...

Read More

NO MORE LOVE POEM

“”..... Ander her picture when she cut her wrists and so the kid saw the picture and his prick went Whoop Whoop Whoop,,,”
- Trantino. The Great Blafigria Is.

“ … For I dream...

Read More

The Keystone Cops were funny,
Chaplain, Keaton, Lloyd, and Fields too.
Laurel and Hardy, and Will Rodgers,
Were just some of the names we knew.


Who can forget the Stooges, 
Or all the pies we saw them throw?
Who didn't...

Read More

While strolling through a military cemetery about a week or so ago,
I became transfixed by the sounds wafting about that serene plateau.
An inviting bench beckoned me to sit and muse a while,
And gaze upon those...

Read More

The empty boots, neatly laced and, alas, now on display,
Belonged to a gallant soldier who died the other day.
Another patriot gave his all in the service of his nation.
He placed service above self to fulfill...

Read More

i was there the day she died
the day she breathed her last
i prayed the Lord she'd suffer not
it's happening too fast

we both agreed no life support
so many years ago
how could i see this circumstance
or this...

Read More

I think of how it was ten years ago
just after you departed.
All your close friends spoke
of your "complexity"
and we knew what it meant.

I look far back to childhood when
those small-town midwest Methodists
would call you "Revrund."...

Read More

Who’s in charge
14/08/2018


Confusion reigns supreme,
As my alter takes the reign.
Like a character in a meme,
Whos repetition drives me insane.
Just who’s driving this train ?
This train of thought so inane !

Thoughts are so subjective, inanimate,
Yet this...

Read More

You foolish boy!
What have you done!
Come son, come!
Cast out yourself, 
‘cause it’s the demon
that’s goin' ruin you.

Child, get that big black bible; 
the King James Version is better 
‘cause it’s written in the old tongue.
Read...

Read More

Your little one is on her way
To change your world from night to day
To show you how to laugh and play
Your little one is on her way

Your little one will bring delight
She’ll keep you up...

Read More