Author: Harry E. Gilleland, Jr.
ISBN: 978-1-4357-1242-3
Harry E. Gilleland Jr. is a retired professor of microbiology from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. In this third collection of poems, Poetic Musings of an Old Fat Man, Gilleland tenderly crafts his verse with profound introspective philosophical convictions pertaining to a wide variety of topics that require slow digestion in order to reap their full benefits.
Some of the weighty themes touch on politics, war, hatred, genocide, materialism, divorce, grief, guilt, and the tragic events as Darfur, Katrina, while others are lighter with dashes of wit and even some nostalgia thrown in involving personal family stories.
Most of poems have a conversational rhythm containing a great deal of bluntness and a clear expression of emotions that brilliantly portray the work of a mature self-confident gentleman who knows what life is all about.
These are poems that often feel like having a light bulb switched on in your brain and after reading the poem you unconsciously cry out "eureka!" This is particularly in evidence when you read Being A Man where a young lad of seventeen tells his father that he will be eighteen next year and thus a man. To this the father replies: "Perhaps. If so, I'd be glad. Age only makes an adult. Understand?"
The last two stanzas best sum up Gilleland's wisdom as he candidly states:
"What does make a boy become a man then?"
"It's what's inside that matters. You must first
put aside selfishness. You're a man when
only doing your duty quenches your thirst.
"A man puts the needs of his family
and his country ahead of his own wants.
‘Serving others' may seem a homily,
but failure to do this, a true man haunts."
As I savored Gilleland's wonderful poems, I never knew beforehand which ones would resonate in some way that would leave a lasting impression or something that was familiar but was previously murky or obscure. Such was the case of The Assembled Waiters where Gilleland paints a picture of a doctor's waiting room where he begins:
"We all sit and wait.
We wait in a room designed for waiting.
We wait for our names to be called.
Some wait nervously, fidgeting
and checking their watches.
Some wait patiently, reading old magazines.
Some even doze off to sleep.
But we all wait."
The third stanza speaks to me every time I read it, particularly as I get older, I seem to be venturing more often to the doctor's waiting room. It is simple yet at the same time profound, and it has a beautiful rhythm to it.
"We are a unique group assembled here.
We are both young and old,
both male and females,
the rich and the poor.
Here we are all equal…waiters.
Worry, fear, and dread sit on many faces,
for here we all need luck and mercy."
Probably one of the most outstanding qualities of Gilleland's poetry is his ability in proving that any topic or theme, if handled skillfully, can be transferred into persuasive poetry. This is effectuated with his balancing of his personal convictions and fervour with imaginative meticulousness that speaks to us at another level and touches us in a similar way as music. Moreover, Gilleland employs very little ornamentation in his poetry, which is one of the prime reasons why they contain meaningful content that leave a lasting impression.
Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Harry E. Gilleland, Jr.
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