When Grandpa Went to Jail - Clifford Stutz (1982) (Poetry)

While in jail Grandpa wrote the following lines of poetry expressing his feelings about this experience and recorded them in his diary:

Brother Reiser:
Our path is scattered with thorns
Of him who would like to destroy
By obeying the laws of God
You and I were cast into prison
But let us say like Jesus
“Father, thy will be done.”
___________________________
While God has sent His Messenger
To comfort your soul
Take care of the precious things
That you do behold
Watch every footstep
That you do make
For things might be laid
In your path wherever you may go
Remember the words that Jesus has said
We should all watch and not forget our prayers.

[Note from Ellen: It may interest you to know that the poems mentioned above are addressed to Brother Reiser. Brother Reiser is actually Heinrich Reiser, a fellow Swiss immigrant and also the great grandfather of my husband, Mark Landeen. We had a marriage made in prison.]

Brother Foster:

May you be true to and faithful
To Him who has shown
His mercies and kindness
In many ways to you
And your brother in the Gospel.
We have been told the time would come
To prepare ourselves to stand alone.
So you have stood before the court
And brought yourself to uphold the truth
For this was the cause
That you were sent for six months
To the Utah pen.