I saw an old man standing in the sand,

With cane in hand, staring out at the horizon.

I asked of him what his thoughts were about,

He stared at me with a sigh and a smile.

I’m one hundred and three as I look to the sea,

I’ve outlived my wife and family.

I’ve had a life, seen many wonderful things,

Now an old man, old as the trees.

I say old man! what’s it like to be one hundred and three?

I don’t know, I only know what it’s like to be me.

I asked of him, would you wish to again be a child?

He replied, my only wish is to again see my wife’s smile.

i asked to him an old man, what’s the greatest thing you

Have done in such a lifetime,

His words to me were this, I married a beautiful wife,

I walked with her in the sand, I saw her smile, and

Now, here I stand.

Keith Garrett

     AUNT PENELOPE

 She could do such unusual things without much thought,


Out of bottle caps she could make a crazy hat.


She could jump really high, almost fly,


Close her eyes and make an apple pie.


She could walk backwards while tying her shoes,


Dance around a pool while reading a book.


She could play the harp without her hands,


Tell you the time in just about any land.


She could watch a movie without a sound,


 Recite every line while spinning around.


 Aunt Penelope was a strange one indeed,


 At the age of one hundred and fifty three,


 Old aunt Penelope is still but a fantasy.

                        Keith Garrett

              AN ALWAYS CHANGING SKY

A light shade of gray evenly covering that which lives below,

Clouds so heavy and thick with moisture ready to rain down.

In the early evening as the sun fades many shades of color,

After dark on a clear, stary night you can see forever high.

Big, white fluffy clouds of many shapes sitting still above your head,

With the wind you’ll see their shapes change and drift slowly away.

Thunder and lightening visit a dark, stormy day, the sun is there,

Hiding beyond the blanket of nature, the sun still shines without sight.

An always changing sky, never the same throughout any given day,

The sky is always there, it is the elements that move through and change it.

                              Keith Garrett

        A TRIP TO ANYWHERE

I’m searching for loose change, standing by the car wash,

I’m happy just waiting for a ride.

Here it comes, sir! does the bus stop at 82nd street?

My pink Cadillac is a stolen car, I just gave it a name.

This hard land does not make me a lucky man,

My wife and I were once the honeymooners, now trouble in paradise.

So young and in love, we were two for the road,

The wish I have is to be back in your arms.

Don’t look back says a man with sad eyes,

I used to be a man at the top, now I have restless nights.

The bus stops here where I rendezvous with her,

Give the girl a kiss and stare over the rise of the sun.

We go to a place and watch a T.V. movie,

I’m always here when you need me “she says”

We watched seven angels, It started to rain,

There was a great thunder crack.

Some of us have hearts of stone, not us,

Bring on the night, when the lights go out, so peaceful,

Shut out the light.

                       Keith Garrett

How is it possible to change the world,

Can one man get it started? where to begin.

do a favor of unselfishness, and ask that in

Return this person does three favors,

Two more favors of you must be accomplished

To start.

It is that someone first did a kindness for you,

They then asked you to do these three things.

Favors of three may be quite a sacrifice indeed,

A price this may be, that you pay in many ways.

A person, just one who takes a chance, is possible,

If each that has been given this gift, does in return pass

It on , then it will never stop.

The world would be as one family, in other words,

A perfect world.

Keith Garrett

With speed like the wind, to the sky it soars,

So massive this beast, listen to the sound

as it roars.

Legend or myth, this monster of fire,

Just the sight of it is hard not to admire.

Of long ago, these stories are told,

FLIGHT OF A DRAGON, in a time of old.

Where did they come from? these creatures

So wild,

Born down below or in the mind of a child.

Sometimes, in your thoughts, look up in

The air,

Flight of a dragon, maybe still there.

Keith Garrett

         A MYSTERY

Something not discovered, a story that grows,


That which can not be figured out, a mystery.


 Who did it, or how did it happen, is a question,


Responsibility for a disappearance or crime.


Aliens are around us constantly, keep searching,


A mystery it is about Jack the Ripper, who was Jack?


Things exaggerated from the human mind, folklore,


A mystery grows with time, a mystery created within 
The mind.
                      Keith Garrett

A speck of dust, a trickle of water,

Soon would blow with the wind, and

Dry into nothing.

Our time is now, as we are a whisper

Wanting to be heard,

A short period for laughter, remembered

For what we leave.

For so long has time existed, the world,

The universe is large,

We are but a fragment, a particle of all

That was created.

A moment in time was this gift we were

Given from God above,

A moment to see and love all there is to

Understand from this.

Where we go from here, we shall not know,

But hold no fear,

Like many fallen leaves from a tree, we are

One, we disappear.

Keith Garrett

LET ME TAKE YOU ON A JOURNEY

This is the real world, and we are alive,

God created this world, and Jesus was an only son

We have today, there are no answers, while tomorrow never knows,

It’s been a long time comin’ and, after millions of years, life visits me.

Some have American skin, once there wasn’t any,

Since the beginning of time, those who existed were worlds apart.

Being in such small groups in the early days of man,

Well! the thought was we take care of our own,

You needed a good eye to watch for danger.

Here we go, livin’ in the future, nothing to hear, a radio nowhere,

I came upon some black cowboys, one they called outlaw Pete.

A silver palomino, wanted by the law, riding under an empty sky,

The price you pay for being on the wrong side of justice.

You’ll be comin’ down when you want it all or nothin’ at all,

When your life is about doing only badthen you’re just a dead man walkin’

Drifting further on up the road in a time of machines was he,

A gypsy biker told me a story called, The Ghost of Tom Joad.

He was a soul driver on a search for something,

A hungry heart had he, spoke of Independence Day, then said the long goodbye.

Thinking about family and the ties that bind, I remember Maria’s bed,

I think of her, my sherry darling,

Thoughts of another, asking Rosalita, come out tonight, my crush on you.

                          Keith Garrett

 A WISE MAN SAID


A wise man said, Never, angry to bed,


Let go of the anger or sorrow that 
Fills your heart.

Think before you act, be wise with your 
Choice,

Put your thoughts together before words 
Come out wrong.

Physical violence is not a last resort,


You've traveled too far, and now you are lost.


A wise man said you can't always get what 
You want,

Things won't always go your way,


Keep control and pray for another day.


If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again,


When the morning sun rises, there's another 
Chace, you'll have.

 A wise man said, but a wise man is he who can 
Keep a clear head.
                    Keith Garrett