Poetry of Leland Gamson
Photo of Leland Gamson at
Literature Show
An Introduction
I am a Messianic Jew who accepted Jesus as my Messiah at age 18. I retired from the United States Army and worked as a VA social worker and therapist. I have written children's books, devotionals, poetry and wrote children's Sunday School curriculum for the Wesleyan Church, My writings have also been published in THE UPPER ROOM and HOPE IS NOW evangelical magazine, and in the PROCEEDINGS ON SCIENCE AND CHRISTIAN FAITH. I am a member of the Academy of American Poets, and a Certified Methodist Lay Minister. I enjoy teaching Sunday School, performing Bible characters and working out at the Y, walking my dogs and traveling.
Visit My Website (click)
Children's Books
(click)
Email Leland (click)
Poetry
WAS HE AN ANGEL OR A TRUCK
DRIVER?
When driving in a blizzard
With fifty miles to go
I feared I’d never make it
Because of the ice and snow
So, I prayed to our Good Shepard
To safely home, arrive
For it is His perfect will
To Keep His sheep alive
Then a slow-moving truck
Appeared in front of me
Now its lights and shielding
Allowed me to finally see
I followed behind him
Gratefully wondering why
The piece of road I drove on
Was never slick, but dry
We drove to my exit
Where the roads were dry and
clear
Then he honked when I left him
And he did disappear
Was the truck driven by an angel
God put for me, onboard
Or was the driver, a trucker
In service of our Lord?
Leland P. Gamson
Copyrighted 2020
‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE
CHRIST’S BIRTH
‘Twas the night before Christ’s
birth and nearing the town
Rode three wise men all wearing a
crown
They each bore a gift chosen with
care
For Mary’s baby when they arrived
there
They followed a star when they
heard the good news
Of the One to be born to be King
of the Jews
Gaspar, traveled from where we
know as Iran
With a gift of gold for the Son
of Man
Melchior came from much farther
east
Bearing incense for the new born
High Priest
Balthasar brought myrrh for God’s
Passover Lamb
He knew he better not bring bacon
or ham
Christ would die for us all as an
atonement for sin
Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph found
no room at the inn
For the innkeeper told Joseph his
inn was all full
The only place for his family had
cows, lambs, and a bull
The manger was not quiet, all was
not still
In fact, it was noisy, but this
was God’s will
The room had no windows because
it was a cave
But God’s Holy Spirit had all
creatures behave
Joseph’s tired donkey, on which
Mary road
Found a place in the stable, a
livestock abode
Outside, the shepherds guarded
their flock
From any predator hiding behind
crevice or rock
The next day they heard singing
from on high
A celestial choir sang from up in
the sky
“Glory to God in the highest,
peace, good will to men”
And the shepherds repeated
“Halleluiah, Amen”
When they peaked in the stable,
what did they see
Mary with child, Joseph bowed
down on one knee
For the Savior was born, to show
us His Way
To the world He was sent, for our
sins He would pay
He would not lead an army to free
Jacob from Rome
But came as a Shepard to lead His
sheep to His home
He came not to conquer, He came
not to kill
But He came to spread love,
kindness, goodwill
He would die on a cross as our
Passover Lamb
For God came down to earth, the
Holy I AM
Now 2000 years later when
Christmas Eve comes
We can still have our trees and
our sugar plums
But let’s remember Christ’s birth
in old Bethlehem
And angels singing, “Glory to
God, peace, good will to all men”
Written by Leland P. Gamson
@2020
POEM TO MY FALLEN SON’S DOG
Jake, what does an old dog dream
about?
Do you dream about when you and
Nate
Would play soldier in the nearby
woods,
Him wearing parts of my old Nam
uniform
Telling me you two were in the
K-9 Corps
And when he became 18 you would
both
Join up for real?
I could not explain to him that
when he turned 18
You would be too old for the K-9
Corps
Just like I could not explain to
a six year old
What war is really like.
When his guard unit was called up
I think he knew what to expect
When he gave you to me for safe
keeping
But that didn’t stop him from
being as eager
To go kick butt
As I was when going off to Nam.
Jake, you still get up when you
think you hear Nate’s truck
Returning him from the Iraq War
While in the closet, his dress
uniform, not aging like you
Stands ready for him to put on
again.
Just like you’re ready to go trot
off with him again into the woods.
Maybe if enough of Nate’s body
remained
After the IED blew up his hummer
We could have had an open casket
funeral
And you would have been able to
sniff his remains
And in your dog way of
understanding
Know that he was as dead as the
squirrels
That fell from your chase.
Jake, do you know that you are
old
And you are only going to grow
older
And it is only going to get
harder for you
To get up, and harder for you to
smell
What is left of Nate’s odor on
his uniforms?
Do you know that you are going to
die?
And that I am going to die soon
too
Because the Agent Orange is aging
me fast
So we are the same age now?
Heaven is easy to describe to a
dog.
It is a land where you and Nate
can run
And explore together deep in lush
woods
Swim and climb and leap without
pain.
Heaven is a place where you don’t
need a collar
Or a leash and young men and
women don’t need dog tags,
Because nothing is going to run
you over or hurt you.
In Heaven no one gets separated
from their unit.
Dogs don’t lose their masters
And parents don’t lose their
children.
LTC Leland Gamson (USAR Ret.,
IGR)
NATURALISM
Here is the universe explained
Without our Lord and King,
Nothing times nothing
Equals everything.
Concepts of right and wrong
Can be explained this way,
All life is but a struggle
Between predator and prey.
A real conscious self
In science has no room.
Spirit’s but an illusion
Just don’t ask to whom.
By Leland P. Gamson
I AM SURROUNDED BY SAINTS
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God, to the Saints in Ephesus, the faithful
in Christ Jesus: Ephesians 1:1 (NIV)
To all who are beloved of God in
Rome, called as Saints: Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7 (NASB)
I ask God to Speak to me
As He did to Moses and Abraham
I ask God, for me to be visited
by an angel
Like the Centurion, Cornelius was
in Caesura.
So far, neither has happened.
What has happened is that
I am always running into Christ’s
Saints.
Saints in Walmart working as
checkers
Greeting each customer, as
Christ’s ambassador
With love whether they be kind or
grumpy.
Saints visiting those in prison
As Christ commanded us.
Saints incarcerated in prison
Striving to stay on the straight
and narrow
Living with hardened fellow
inmates,
While trying to show them a
better way.
Saints extending their hands in
love
To drug addicts, now under the
Saints’ care.
Saints driving cars lined up
In front of middle schools
To pick up the grandchildren
While their children work.
Nursing assistant Saints
Gently changing the attends
Of the frail, elderly who are
hardly aware of their caregiver.
Saints staffing Christians
missions
Who take Jesus at His word
To feed the hungry
And give water to the thirsty.
Saints driving ambulances
And without judgment
Reviving those who O.D.
Saints in church, the Body of
Christ
Singing, praying, sharing each
other’s burdens
Studying His word
Inviting others to join
Their fellowship of Saints.
By Leland P. Gamson
@ 2020
GUARDIAN BEAR
I, guardian bear, sit by the
grave
Of a child whose stay here was
brief
His day of birth, was not one of
joy
Instead, it brought sorrow and
grief
But were I, more than a stuffed
bear
I ’de show you the Kingdom above
You’d see that our child is under
God’s care
Embraced by His angels and love.
By Leland P. Gamson
@2020
GIVE HIM YOUR HAND
Sung to the tune of “I Can’t
Help Falling in Love”
Wise men came to a lonely inn
To see the One who was free of
sin
For all who knock
Are let in
For Jesus has shed His blood for
you
Give Him your hand
Give Him your whole life too
For Jesus has shed His blood for
you
REFRAME:
If it was just you
In this world today
He’d still shed His blood
On Good Friday
He loves the poor, He loves the
meek
He loves the strong, He loves the
weak
For Jesus has shed His blood for
you
Give Him your hand
Give Him your whole life too
For Jesus has shed His blood for
you
By Leland P. Gamson
The four line reframe can be
inserted between any of the verses.
As in the
original, the whole lyrics can be repeated.
A GIFT TO A GENTILE LADY
“Don’t bury your dog Liddy’s
remains in the back yard.”
Ruth was warned by her mother,
“Because if you do, whenever you
see her grave, you will feel sad.”
But Ruth did bury Liddy in their
back yard
Not wanting her pals remains
cremated then forgotten.
And Ruth buried other treasurers
Where she would keep running into
them.
On her library shelf
She buried her high school
yearbook
With photos of boys
Who didn’t requite her crushes.
In her closet
She buried her ballet slippers
She can still fit into.
She buried in her trunk
Rejection letters from two
Seven Sister colleges
With letters from her boyfriend
Who wouldn’t marry her
After she became pregnant.
And she buried on the shelf
A book of possible names
For their baby
She aborted.
Now thirty years later
She listens to the King of the
Jews saying,
“My precious child take ballet
lessons again.
Attend your high school reunion
and meet
A redeemed brother I have
prepared
To be your Boaz.
And if you can see through the
glass darkly
You will see
In my Father’s Kingdom
Your now named child
Plays with Liddy.”
Leland P. Gamson
607 W. Spencer Ave.
Marion, IN 46952
EMANUEL
(To the tune of “the Lion
Sleeps Tonight”)
(Inspired from the words in
Joel 3:16-18)
Emanuel, Emanuel, Emanuel,
Emanuel
Emanuel, Emanuel, our Lord and
Savior.
In a manger, a lonely manger
The Savior ‘s born tonight.
In a manger, a lonely manger
The Savior’s born tonight.
Emanuel, Emanuel, Emanuel,
Emanuel
Emanuel, Emanuel, our Lord and
Savior.
From the tribe, from the tribe of
Judah
The Savior’s born tonight
From the tribe, from the tribe of
Judah
Our Savior’s born tonight.
Emanuel, Emanuel, Emanuel,
Emanuel
Emanuel, Emanuel our Lord and
Savior
On the mount, on the Mt. of Zion
Our Savior will alight
On the mount, on the Mt. of Zion
Our Savior will alight.
Emanuel, Emanuel, Emanuel,
Emanuel
Emanuel, Emanuel, our Lord and
Savior
By Leland P. Gamson
COME SEE GOD’S SON SHINE
(sung to the tune of “You Are
My Sun Shine”)
Last night as I was praying
I heard the Holy Spirit say,
“Come see the Son shine
Come see the Son shine
For then you ‘ll know dear
How much He loves us
He washed our sins away.
Come see God’s Son shine
Come see God’s Son shine
He makes us joyful when skies are
grey
He’s made it known dear how much
He loves us
He has washed our sins away.”
Some day when we are dying
And on this earth, we cannot stay
We’ll see God’s Son shine
And reign in Heaven
He has washed our sins away.
Come see God’s Son shine
Come see God’s Son shine
He makes us joyful
When skies are grey
He’s made it known dear
How much He loves us
He has washed our sins away.
One day He’ll return in glory
And come back here to stay.
He’ll bring with Him
The Saints in Heaven.
He has washed all our sins away.
Come see God’s Son shine
Come see God’s Son shine
He makes us joyful
When skies are grey
He’s made it known dear
How much He loves us
He has washed our sins away.
By Leland P. Gamson
Christian Children's Books By Leland Gamson
Visit My Website (click)
Email Leland