A PICTURE

I stand here watching as I am not noticed but observe I do,

By an old, leafless tree I watch this scene hidden in the shadows.

A long time ago I see in front of me an old farmhouse of red,

Old, withered, fences surround the house and land, many trees in the distance stand.

A sky of clouded blue is a part of this picture seen from my eyes,

To the left of me slowly walking is a young man and horse,

Their shadows follow along as they head on down the road.

Covered with leaves is the ground as the look and feel of Fall is around,

A wagon sits unhitched close to where it is that I stand,

A picture from a long time ago, not recognizing where I am.

A picture of a place that once used to be, now just a picture of a memory.

Keith Garrett

A MAN WITH AN AX

Wood needs to be chopped, it sits waiting, many types and sizes,

Fall is in the air, chillier the air turns, work must be done.

A job it is to chop enough wood to warm a home for the Winter,

Must be done, perhaps no fun as it is an accomplishment to be proud.

Stack it in a pile, carry it piece by piece, chopped and split wood for a fire,

A smell, can you take it in, smell the aroma as it’s cut, stronger it grows.

A man with an ax gets this job done, he sweats from morning till the setting sun,

Swinging an ax, working as the cold moves closer,

The wood pile will rise higher.

A man with an ax is strong and determined,

He will succeed because he knows of its need,

When it’s done, a Winter of warmth,

When the setting sun, he knows the job is done.

Keith Garrett

A GAMBLER

Spin the wheel, maybe a roll of the dice,

A bad hand at cards, so it’s said, you’ll lose your shirt.

Bet on a game, football, basketball, baseball, it’s all the same,

Your wallet is empty, credit cards are okay.

Horses are great, this time you feel lucky inside,

At the finish line, a house could be on the line.

Deal in drugs, surely a gambler you’ll be,

If it’s not the law, a dead man you might be.

A car thief is a risk, money at your feet,

End up in prison, oh! what a life you lead.

Ask of a loan shark, a favor please,

Put up your life, no friend indeed.

A gambler, a gambler, in each one of us may be,

What risks do you take for all that you need?

Keith Garrett

A FACE THAT LIES

The devils’ eyes have a face that lies,

It smiles at you with promises so false.

Giving you gifts of sinful things,

Changing your appearance, a picture of greed and evil.

It taunts you into believing that bad is good,

Material belongings are most precious, love not kind.

Stand and be recognized, a face that lies,

Don’t stare in the eyes of what does not cry.

Accept not a wish, not a gift from a demon spirit,

Give not of yourself, in an instance, he’ll own your soul.

A face that lies has many by his side,

They walk as you walk, do not be fooled, this is no heavenly stroll to the sky.

Keith Garrett

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOME

I thought about it a little more recently as i stroll through the park,

So sad it is for some of them as they are hard working and lost everything.

For others, there are no excuses only bad choices or criminal doing,

Some get lost in the cracks as the help that is for them needed does not care.

We have homeless heroes, how is it possible when they gave their all,

Some are sick and hurt as they lost more than their material life.

A different kind of home they now have, not what they remember,

Let me describe it to you, some of us are a paycheck away, maybe a day.

The roof over their head may be a clear sky or a rainy night,

The walls around them are not the same as they often change.

A couch wherever they sit, a bed wherever they rest their head,

Television set, that which is taken in by their wishing eyes.

A shower for granted taken each day, when will a shower come their way,

gone now is the refrigerator that was, like an animal they search now.

A different kind of home not that they can call their own, they roam,

Circumstances of why, many reasons you see, sadness wears many feet.

Keith Garrett

A CHANCE TO SEE

A chance to see fore never have I been able to walk in light,

A chance to watch the sunrise as never before seen but dreamed.

A chance to see the trees sway in the wind as the wind never seen,

A chance to see the mountains that I never thought a reality.

A chance to see the clouds so big in the sky drifting slowly by,

A chance to see the waves in the ocean only heard through time.

A chance to walk without a cane, to be free, walk, and see,

A chance to see a smiling face that might smile back at me.

A chance to see all the things that I have always dreamed,

A chance to see what’s never been before these eyes,

A chance, a chance, to see what is in front of me.

Keith Garrett

A BOAT LOST

Slowly floating, adrift in waters so calm,

Why does it have no travelers, alone?

Fog and mist surround this shape of wood,

Where has it been, where does it travel.?

No answers does it give to questions,

Drifting, slowly, drifting to a place of nowhere.

Keith Garrett

DEADLY WAS THE NIGHT

Run fast! run! and try to hide from an evil night,

Fear Is an ugly sight, heroes run for their lives, they die.

Bullets rain from the sky, from a window up so high,

Screams are many, what rings out drops them to the ground.

Those who were spared this night died forever a little inside,

By morning’s light so quiet as the dead lay still, no more alive.

On a peaceful night, blood spilled plenty, no reasons or why,

Listen as music and song turn to neverending cries, death visits this night.

Faces from many places, fifty eight would meet their fate, In the wrong place,

Run for your life! a concert, a festival, how can such a thing happen, not right.

Make sense of It, If you were so lucky to survive, scars that will forever bring tears to your eyes,

Deadly was the night, by morning light spirits would fly high beyond the sky.

Keith Garrett

AN ACT OF FAITH

Is there trust in yourself, what trust in others,

How far would you walk for another, what would you give?

Are you of a good heart even if in the end there is no reward,

Do you expect something in return for putting your life on the line?

Would you run out in the street to save a child or one in a burning car,

Is it a question of a moral value, fear and life is a thought that comes to mind?

An act of faith, would you take a chance, do anything for friend or man,

Would you give of yourself if there could become a certain end?

Keith Garrett

ABOVE THE WAVE

Out on the horizon, beneath the sinking sun, It rolls In,

They all come to watch, they come to ride the wild surf.

For the true surfer, It comes from within, at one with the wave,

Shooting the tube, living on the edge, free to glide across the water.

From Australia, the split, surfers’ paradise, they battle the rolling storm,

To Hawaii, Waimea Bay, North Shore, Pipeline, or Hanalei Bay, the wave.

Above the wave where dreams’ are made, surf the open waterway,

Around the world beyond the shores of Peru to New Zealand, ride.

Above the wave, beneath the wide open sky, forever ride,

Touch the water and listen to the sound of the crashing waves.

Keith Garrett