A MOMENT IN THE SUN

Has it always been mine since the beginning of my time,

I was born to run, I was born to chase the wind, so I run.

I’ve walked along the shore, my feet wet in the sand,

Holding hands, by myself I stand alone, a man.

There’s been at times much fun, I am not done,

Friends and loved ones vanished as the hourglass runs.

When will it come i ask! this moment, my moment in the sun,

It was yesterday, appeared again today, did i not see,

Tomorrow will I wonder when it is to be as it lives all around me.

I had dreams of a girl once upon a time, she came to visit me,

She came to say hi, for just a moment in time, a moment gone by.

I’ve had a moment in the sun, a moment to run, to chase the wind,

I’ve had a love who went away with the passing day, she flies.

My journey takes me to a place but who follows behind,

On another day will catch me, slow down to that which may be.

                     Keith Garrett

              A MAN, A GHOST, AND

               A WOMAN IN A DREAM

I watched a man as he traveled the road, he sees,

I travel the road fore I am a man who sees, who dreams.

Many a ghost are known to me, a ghost of a man,

Of this world no more or of my life much distance.

A woman in a dream appears before me, she sleeps with me,

Her face is known to me as i sleep, as I dream, I see.

See me as i am, emotions run deep, a man of a thousand thoughts,

Seen from my eyes, seen as you are, i am not a fantasy, no dream.

A ghost is a memory, a vision of once was, things from yesterday,

A ghost to some as I live and breathe, one day a ghost in eternity.

She may be one that you think of, one that you dream about,

A woman in a dream, your dream woman, a life’s dream to be.

I am a man, I know of ghosts, and i have seen a woman in a dream,

Today, tomorrow, and yesterday.

                        Keith Garrett

          A  HEARTBEAT

Listen to my heartbeat, thump, thump, it beats,

Blood runs through it, listen to me as I breathe.

A heartbeat means life, it beats fast or slow,

Thump, thump, it goes, a heartbeat that slowly grows old.

It speaks of who I am, only one of a kind,

Listen! thump, thump, with a hand to my chest feel as I am alive.

A heartbeat lets us know that this moment is still ours,

Hear it pound! listen to its beautiful sound.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, one beat at a time,

A heartbeat so precious, thump as it beats one more time.

             Keith Garrett

FOR THIS RANCH, WILL YOU DIE?

This place of beauty has stood here for generations,

Built by a great, great, Grandfather a long time ago.

Times have changed in this world around a ranch,

The fight to keep what is yours has been since time began.

You battle, climb the hill with sweat and tears, for this ranch,

Family before you, have sacrificed in ways you can’t understand,

What does your heritage mean to you? will you die if they try to take your home?

For this ranch, will you die? will you shed a tear for those who bled before your time?

                         Keith Garrett

            DESPERADO


    More than one hundred years ago he lived,


  In a small village somewhere in Mexico, a boy.


 Poor was his family as each day was a struggle,

There were those close by, the bad ones who stole everything.

A day came when his village was destroyed, family killed,

     Survived did he to one dsy grow to be a man.


Revenge would be his only friend, not a bad man was he,


    With pistols at his side he would seek justice.


    They called him desperado, a no good criminal,


He stole from them who once took everything meaningful.


   His gun did the talking, anger ate at his soul,


     He lived by campfire, ate what he shot or stole,

Justice was one day his, his reward was always on the run.

                     Keith Garrett

This is for the children a story I tell,

Listen quietly, can animals do this?

Did you ever see a duck drive a truck,

Can a baboon fly a rocket to the moon.

Have you ever seen a Giraffe laugh,

Did you ever watch a lion that was crying.

Do you suppose a snake would eat a piece of cake,

Does a mouse eat cheese and live in a house.

Can a frog sing to a barking dog,

Does a bird know a word, one that you’ve heard.

Can a cat laugh with a bat,

Did you ever see a moose kicking a goose.

What if a chimp could fly a blimp,

Do you think that a bear can fly through the air.

Maybe a horse can say, of course, of course,

Do you think that a cow can go meow.

Have you ever seen a goat drive a boat,

What about a sheep that swims so deep.

Can animals do this, what do you think,

Off to sleep, time to dream.

Keith Garrett

           BLUE JEANS

 Antique in time,  from the seventies, a pair so fine,



I remember I put them away, blue Jeans for another day.



 A touch faded were they,  comfortable in a certain way,



 Worn were they to a party, perhaps a barbecue or two,



 A Saturday night drive-in, what jeans were worn by you?



 Blue jeans I took from a shelf,  dusty, aged from time, 



 They fit me once before, now I can wear them in my mind.

                                         Keith Garrett

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