Larry Brown: Living Historical Literature |
Published: July 15th, 2015
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Corporal Larry Brown
Larry Brown, a twenty-year-old corporal in the United States Marine Corps, wrote a letter to his parents from near San Francisco, California before shipping off to Pearl Harbor in 1945. Within that letter home, filled with the lingo and vigor of a young, optimistic patriot, was the handwritten draft of a poem he wrote about his ship - his home on the sea away from home. This poem was first published in the ship’s paper.
We, at Howl, are publishing this poem and accompanying letter and photographs because they are a reminder that literature isn't always prose written at an MFA workshop, but can be a poem written about a young Marine in war. Corporal Brown was not an academically trained poet. In fact, he dropped out of high school in his senior year to help out with the family carpeting business to support his mother and two younger brothers when his father passed away. Poetry can be an almost instinctive form of expression, both entertaining and therapeutic, reflective of the life being lived in that moment in history. |
My Ship
I boarded the ship in San Diego
She looked so beautiful to me So big and powerful and majestic I couldn’t wait till I felt her at sea We kept going out on shake downs Back and forth we went Until finally at Pearl Harbor This majestic ship was sent From there we hit Enewetok One of the many Marshall Isles Then came Guam, then Saipan We sure did cover miles Then we stopped at Okinawa In the heart of Buckner Bay But we stayed there just a short while And then were on our way Now we have our fingers crossed We don’t know where we’ll go But we all hope and pray Our next stop will be Tokyo 
My Ship by Larry Brown
Letter home to parents, from San Francisco to Brooklyn
Letter home to parents (read from right to left)
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