BEFORE AND AFTER


  There was a time when I was not here,


  No thoughts, no name or Identity were mine.


I had no pain or sorrow, not a thing for me to know,


  Where was I before I became me, somewhere waiting?


  A time will come when I am no longer here, will I 
  have thoughts,


  A name remembered, my Identity will not be this body 
  Or mind.


  Again there will be no pain or sorrow, I will be somewhere else,



  Before and after, heaven bound, where was I before my 
  First sound?

                                Keith Garrett

                    A PAGE MISSING


  A life I find not finished, yet quite incomplete,



  There's a page missing, something not found,



  Writing about my time,  a piece not described.



  Talks with children unsettled, much more be said,



  Differences between a father, and daughter are unsaid.



  A shock to my head, an accident did take fro me,



  A page missing, what for me is still unwritten.

                              Keith Garrett

                                    I BECOME REAL


  I am fantasy, I come to life in dreams in the night,


  I am not real, a made up story created from a pen.

 
  A cartoon, monster, fables, or nursery rhymes,


  I become real, with the Imagination from a mind.


  Superheroes and Frankenstein do not walk the streets,


  Magic spells, wizards, and wooden boys, are not 
  Really seen.

  I become real, when the world is a scary place to see,


  All things that are Impossible are me when you believe,


  I become real, when what you pretend does never end.


                      Keith Garrett

                         FLIGHT OF A DRAGON


  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  

       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

                     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   

                   TO SIT IN THE SAND


  By myself, with the wind in my face,


  Watching out, towards the horizon, I 
  Sit in the sand.

  Above, only sky that has no ending to
  My eyes,

  Birds that fly, drift silently on by.


  The waves are a sight, crashing on 
  The beach,

  Who would be the man who sat here once, 
  and dared to dream.

  To sit in the sand, warm, to the touch of my feet,

  Thoughts fill my wandering mind, what things 
  Do all of this teach?

  To sit in the sand, peaceful is where I am,

  Memories of times, all that I did in life, felt from 
  Inside.
        Keith Garrett

                             " OLD MAN"
  Who he was did not matter to me, as each 
  Day I passed his way,                         
 On a porch swing or rocking chair, he would 
  Read or listen to the world.
  I gave hi,m a smile, In which he replied with a 
  Smirk from his face,                          
 "Who are you who sits In the morning sun thinking 
  Thoughts never done"
  "I am a man, but once a child running from sunrise 
  Till dusk, I am a man"                           
  "I've seen the years, and have done many things In 
   My time, Once full of energy"                         
  "Old man" On your porch, Is sitting there all that 
   You do, Tell me your story"                         
   "Are you waiting to die, as each day you grow 
  Weary from nothing at all"
  "You are much younger than I, as there was a day 
   When I too, looked like you"                          
  "What makes you think that I did not dream, that 
  I did not succeed"
  "Who keeps a man company as he rests alone 
  Every day, Who loves you"                         
 "As once there lived for me a love so true, she 
  Went away, Who are you"
  "I am an old man, and for me there was a love 
    Of beauty so fine"                            
   "Today I am loved by those whom will pass me by, 
   Listen and smile"
  "Do you fear that life has not much more time 
   For you, old friend"                         
 "Will you grow tired of quiet nights, with thoughts 
  That never end"
  "Tomorrow, sunrise brings with It a new beginning, 
   Possibilities"                            
  "When I grow tired then sleep visits me, dreams 
  Fill this old man"
  "I am young but not so wise, as I did not understand, 
   Passing by,                          
  "The day will come when I too, will be somewhat 
   Like you"
  "You called me old friend, as just moments ago 
   I was a stranger"                           
 "I did not matter to you, wisdom will grow, but 
  Learn from it"
  "As I pass this way, I will see you In a different way, 
   Fore you do matter"                             
  'You're not just an old man, you have spirit and soul, 
  Old man, mt friend"
                                     Keith Garrett

                LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL


  Some walk in darkness, and that doesn't have 
  To be a blind man,

  What consumes a soul may be of anger, or 
  Unhappiness.

  Sickness in the world, so much is discovered,


  Body or mind, scars of time are worn on the inside.


  We all want what we think is needed,


  There's nothing wrong with living in happiness.


  Material desires, beautiful things to be surrounded 
  With,

  A man or woman works hard for what is earned.


  In the end, just keep a thought that there's no taking 
  It with you,

  As a whole, we are squeezing every bit of energy 
  And life,

  This place we call home is being poisoned in every
  Way.

  Who is in charge of its healing, we are,


  The light at the end of the tunnel is our eternal peace.

      Keith Garrett

                 PAPER AIRPLANES


  Watch them fly, as a child, magic in flight,


  Different sizes, many paper shapes.


  When just a boy, when magic seemed so real,


  In my desk, there were stacks of paper airplanes,


  Colored, and ready for take-off, Imagination of a child.


  They soared to the sky on a breezy, sunfilled, day.


  I remember those times when I would run and play.


  Up on a hill, standing there looking down,


  My airplanes of paper, ready to sail up high.


  Paper airplanes in my time of youth,


  I can almost feel it again, I can see it now.

           Keith Garrett