HE TOLD ME OF HIS LIFE

As he sat down in his rocking chair he began to speak,

With a smile, he invited me to sit and went about his story.

His life as a child, at the beginning of a war for Independence,

On a farm in South Carolina, he lived with a father, brothers, sisters.

He went on to tell of adventures in the Summer just before it happened,

A big house, great times with family, working the farm each day was tiring.

He must have been about ninety years old now, the war and those days long gone,

A childhood recalled, swimming in the pond with a friend or two, the night’s moon.

He told me of this war being all around them, nothing would be the same, much change,

Tears in his eyes as he described that time and place where brothers and family died.

He sits in his chair today, many years away from there, he lives in that house today,

He sits in his chair on that porch where as a child he played, he told me of his life.

                                         Keith Garrett

  "BILLY  JACK"

Hatred was not what he was about, time would make him hate worldly things,

Hurt was something he did not want to put upon any man, he would be forced to fight.

He had a temper, beliefs that would put him and those he loved in harm’s way,

He was not wrong, society and those of corruption decided he was not in the right.

Integrity of one man, again he would stand as one tin soldier against the wrong,

He stands at times alone, not without love of the people, against the corrupted souls.

“Billy Jack” I read about you as a child, I sat under a tree as a dreaming boy for a while,

A book that made me want to see more, A movie, a man, and much, much, more.

You were a war hero just as you did see what was wrong with government and war,

Never did you run or hide, you went away at times to find peace, to be alone.

Not a criminal or murderer as you defended against those whom would do you wrong,

Society saw things a different way when you took off your boots and raised a gun your way,

On the bloody morning after one tin soldier rides away then back he would stay.

                    Keith Garrett

          MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

I’ve drifted across the open sea. I wait for you to find me,

In a bottle, I have been placed, a message that I am alive.

You are no longer there anymore, but I let you know I exist,

A thought of what you meant to me, a thought of what I once meant.

If my message gets to you yet, then again, how can this possibly be?

You are a memory from yesterday, I am a thought that sails the sea.

Time does not stop, it has no sympathy, it makes what is a what was,

Life and all that’s within it is reduced to memories, things of yesterday.

A message in a bottle is what I am. If you find me, take me for what I am,

You are forever now; I am something that will one day fade away.

                                   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 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

          A POEM TODAY

Thoughts, many sights from my mind, visions from the past,

Dreams about tomorrow, what may be, a poem today.

To write is a beautiful thing, whatever you want it to be,

Change the world with a stroke of a pen, fact or fantasy begins.

Share with those who write and dream, those who do see,

Share our stories together as we travel the world and universe.

We can take ourselves and others away to unusual places,

A poem today about the love between two, the sun and the moon.

Hopes and dreams, struggles and pain of life, what keeps us strong,

A poem today that puts a smile on a face, comfort, and strength for a moment.

                     Keith Garrett

          A POEM TODAY

Thoughts, many sights from my mind, visions from the past,

Dreams about tomorrow, what may be, a poem today.

To write is a beautiful thing, whatever you want it to be,

Change the world with a stroke of a pen, fact or fantasy begins.

Share with those who write and dream, those who do see,

Share our stories together as we travel the world and universe.

We can take ourselves and others away to unusual places,

A poem today about the love between two, the sun and the moon.

Hopes and dreams, struggles and pain of life, what keeps us strong,

A poem today that puts a smile on a face, comfort, and strength for a moment.

                     Keith Garrett

         CHILD WITHIN

Run and run until the day was done, fun in the sun,

Not a care, chasing butterflies within the wind.

A book that’s numbered beginning with one until it’s done,

I played in the sun, playing and laughing with children no longer.

A child with an adult who would one day find a way out,

Child within, the older we get, always seeking a part we once were.

Our faces do change, lines appear in the light, older by night,

Hair turns color as the seasons turn into years, and eyes show more.

One less fear, a new one is here, another tear, dried with the years,

I see where I’ve been, we all walk our ongoing road, we have a child within.

                                           Keith Garrett

      A BASEBALL DREAM    

On a farm where he grew up, in the early days of the game,

A bat of his own was made from a tree that stood alone.

He had a name for his bat, a certain magic it contained,

Circumstances would get in the way, a dream put aside.

Disappeared without a trace until he arrived on a day,

His special bat carried in hand, this was to be his last chance.

For only a moment, he would stand beneath the lights,

A baseball dream before he faded into the night.

                Keith Garrett