JUST PASSING THROUGH

A man searching for something, always searching,

He travels through the desert, a town in his sight.

On a horse he rides, the sun upon his back,

Dressed in western clothing of the time.

What he wants is a bed for the night,

A warm meal that satisfies, a bath much needed.

He heads for the saloon, a drink in his thoughts,

Sit down for a game of cards with faces of a town.

Just passing through, a man and his horse,

Both bedded down for the night,

When the sun rises, his search will continue.

Keith Garrett

HER SOUL,

A THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

Her face, a look that says she comes from a different place,

A smile that lights up within a darkness, so young but old.

She sings out with an operatic sound, mesmerizing to the ear,

Into a state of wonder that will take you away, watch her eyes.

Appears does she as a little girl, maybe from a long ago world,

Sings as if she has lived lifetimes, her voice echoes with years,

It is that her soul could be that of a thousand years old.

Keith Garrett

HERE IS MY HOUSE

Here is my house built for this world today,

There is a gate so that you can’t get through,

If not invited there will be guns waiting for you.

Two dogs growling, mean as could ever be,

An alarm system that calls on those who will hurt you indeed.

Doors of steel that should let not a criminal soul get in,

Supplies for survival if this land must come to this.

Here is my house, not one of dreams but of safety,

Not the way our country should be, here is my house the way I see.

Keith Garrett

SHE LIVES IN A GLASS HOUSE

Behind windows and doors that wait to be broken,

She holds a fist full of stones, always is she throwing.

As her life goes by they gather with stones of their own,

She preaches to the world behind her mask of many,

She is not seen but a hypocrite with a mouth of words phony.

She lives in a glass house built just for her, pretending always,

A false smile, two faces with a third never seen, few know of how mean,

Sad to say that I do know of her name, hides behind the book with a face.

Keith Garrett

FAVORS IN THREES

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 do 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 of 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 a way.

A person, just one to take a chance is possible,

If each that have 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

ELLEN DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

I think of how she liked to run through the field of flowers,

A smile so bright, as if not a care in her world, memories.

We swam in the lake, laughing under the hot Summer sun,

Walking to school on cool, Fall mornings, playing along the way.

She went away, such a sad day as my friend went far away,

I still see her running through that field with her smile so bright.

If I listen on quiet nights I hear her splashing in the water, her laugh,

I walk to school in the morning wondering if she is by my side or near,

I get tears because Ellen doesn’t live here anymore.

Keith Garrett

EIGHTEEN WHEELS

Leaving out of North Dakota, heading for Odessa Town,

Hopped up into my ole’ truck, eighteen wheels under my butt.

Hauling a load of lumber and steel,

Me and my music box, my hands on the steering wheel.

I’m headin’ for the heat of Texas,

It’s gonna be a long, long, road, don’t you know.

I turned up some good ole’ country tunes,

Time to put the hammer down.

This life I chose, on the road it’s to anywhere I roam,

Just a simple Kansas farm boy, one day I’ll go back home.

Eighteen wheels, rollin’ down the highway,

Eighteen wheels, doin’ it my way.

Just a good ole’ boy with places to be,

A country heart, and I got things to see,

Eighteen wheels and I’m runnin’ free.

Keith Garrett

BORN, DIE, FORGOTTEN

It is an amazing thing to be born, a gift of life,

Mind and heart together tell a life’s tale.

Created we are by another two we learn to love,

We grow to be men and women, childhood a memory.

As we age, sickness, injury, maybe an accident will take us,

Guaranteed, something will end our time in this crazy place.

What bothers me is that eventually we will be forgotten,

There will at some moment be no one who thinks of or remembers me.

Keith Garrett

FINDING FREEDOM

The search for freedom and a fight to keep it,

After thousands of years more is taken away today.

It’s all up for sale, we can barely walk in the hills anymore,

Dirt, water, and even air are not ours without a dollar.

We are not as free as we believe, we are allowed to do as they say,

All wars are not about freedom, most are of corruption and money.

Finding freedom when so much has changed is becoming rare,

We are losing it from every direction, before our eyes, and behind our backs.

The enemy appears to be us, look to our neighbor more than across the sea,

Look around people, we are losing our rights, finding freedom between what is seen.

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