A THANK YOU DEAR LORD

It’ me again, many thoughts swirl in my head,

For this life you gave to me, I am most grateful.

I wake each morning to the rain or shine,

You’ve let me walk your worldly creation, I’m still alive.

I forget at times and also for granted take,

This life is precious, there’s much good in the world.

A thank you dear lord for the things given to me,

The wonders of this land at times are hard to see.

I’ll try to remember that fragile is man,

Speak to you soon, I keep trying to understand

And be the best I can.

Keith Garrett

A STORY TO TELL

A PIECE OF TIME

It’s been a long time, I think about being thirteen,

I just started at Bernardo Yorba JR,high, just a scared boy.

Life seemed to be changing so much from where I came from,

I moved to Yorba in nineteen seventy two, I was lost after my dad died.

Glen knoll was my first stop, then off to seventh grade where I met many friends,

Taken for granted all of these things right in front of me, we were just kids.

I think of those friends today, dreams enter my sleeping body in the dark of night,

I would like you to know that I remember you more than you know, a long time ago.

You walked through a school that I once visited years after we were far from there,

The year was two thousand fourteen, I wandered again in the land of Yorba Linda.

Neighborhoods that we knew were mostly the same, trees taller than once stood,

It was a Saturday morning when I walked with an old friend into a school much older.

We were no longer fourteen just as Bernardo Yorba had so much age to it now,

Wandering this place filled with ghosts of friends from the past, cobwebs now rest.

Lockers were no more, where all kids stood and spoke of childish stories that would end,

Standing in the center surrounded by classrooms where teachers once taught,

I was an older me remembering a boy playing sports in this place, I stood again.

Nineteen seventy five I was thirteen, coming back here it is quiet, a sound from the wind,

Looking around, echoing voices from ghosts of friends, I remember you a long ago friend.

I have been back there to Yorba several times since I was young, a neighborhood I loved,

Although it has changed over the years just like every small town anywhere you go.

The last time I visited I walked around the streets of my neighborhood, a bit older,

The outside area is too crowded, Yorba Linda Boulevard is not the same as those days.

I’m so grateful that I was able to have lived there at a time when it was quiet and peaceful,

Esperanza was a great school with the best friends I ever had, Short lived for myself.

An Injury suffered at school turned to Illness and I was suffering at school along with each day,

I missed out on a lot so I find myself traveling back in stories, I visit back in my mind.

A piece of time is what was given to us all back then. a childhood, life as teens was ours,

For myself, walking past houses of old neighbors, and friends is like seeing emty shells.

A ghost town now with tumbleweeds, the seventies were left behind, that was my time.

Keith Garrett

A DRIFTING MAN

On a road of travel without any end,

Rests his weary body wherever he can.

Sleeps in the night hidden from sight,

Days of length, the next stop is any place.

From town to town he wanders with hope,

Worry fills his head about that next meal.

Find a job and stay in one place a short while,

Friends and smiles disappear with the miles.

A drifting man sees much of the land,

Meets many faces, lonely where he stands.

A price he pays to live in such a way,

There’s a gift in seeing the world,

What’s taken away is the peace of settling in one place.

He chooses a path, he’s a wandering man,

Today he’s here, gone again.

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 BIG HEART

He was a small man but only in height,

He would lose his wife as a child was born.

Lou was his name, a man so kind,

Trying to survive, taking care of his daughter.

A job was needed, treated like some kind of freak,

Turned away, desperate, he would steal for a meal.

This is not who he was, why are people so Ignorant and mean,

Confined to jail by one who did not care, a much needed favor.

A daughter in danger, this little man with a big heart was needed,

Risk his life he would, even for those whom did look down upon,

A big heart in a man who did appear to stand taller than all.

Keith Garrett

LISTEN TO THE DRUMBEAT

Thump, thump, hear the sound that makes the world go around,

Feel the pounding of its rhythm, the drum beats hard, the heart beats fast.

Listen to the drum beat that lives inside, listen to music, the drum beat cries,

Boom! boom! echoes through the sky, thunder is the drum, it beats out loud.

Wait for the rumble as the shaking earth trembles with an awesome fear,

Bang! Bang! listen as the sleeping child’s heart comes to life in the dark night.

Bombs and gunfire sing through the war beaten land, thump, thump,

The drum beats slow, the drum beats fast, a mother’s terror as her son dies.

The dancing boxer, hard hit as he is dropped to the floor, beat of his heart,

Thump, thump, boom! boom! goes his heart like the drum beat so slow.

Listen to the drum beat, to the sound of wandering feet, like a drum,

A first breath of life, a slower and slower beat of the fading , going away.

Keith Garrett

X STANDS FOR ?

Xavier is a name not to common, will you agree,

Exit sounds like an x but only a word to be.

X-ray is a picture, one that shows inside,

X marks the spot, where a treasure may be.

Extra is something more although it appears to start with x,

An x could be a wife or husband, it could be the start of xylophone.

Excellent is very good but this does not begin with x, only sounds like it,

An x is a most unusual letter, many stories are told using this,

X stands for ?, more than is probably thought of.

Keith Garrett

WITH EVERY PASSING YEAR

So many different places show you a lifetime of remembered and forgotten faces,

With every passing year it is with sadness that a family member or old friends may disappear.

Lucky are we for having those we care about and love in our lives for whatever time there is,

I have had friends from the beginning of my time, to recall them all is without possibility.

They drift from my mind but yet they may be somewhere older and still quite alive,

Wherever they are alive and possibly forgotten or carefully kept close inside, I’ve been blessed.

Some are fortunate in this life to have a friend or two whom have been with them a lifetime,

There are those friends thought of and missed very much and never seen again as we move on.

With every passing year the cycle of life continues as even a new born baby ages with each day,

The future appears constantly without fail, everyone goes away but always comes another day.

With every passing year memories drift further away into places that don’t remember whom we are,

Children play in parks where we as friends did play, did we leave a trace, we went away.

They run on school playgrounds where even teachers aren’t the same, did we leave our names,

Time marches on, something of us will always remain but who out there will ever see.

Keith Garrett

WINCHESTER ROUND TABLE,

KNIGHTS OF TWENTY FIVE

Times of old, in a land where stories are told, men of an oath,

A place, old England where Kings and Queens ruled the land.

There was, there existed those of a round table whom would give their lives,

They were knights of twenty five, the Winchester round table of long ago.

Men of honor were these warriors of the day, heroes they might have been,

Rescuing damsels in distress, fighting off those whom would be evil men.

They to never do outrage nor murder, always to flee treason,

Men such as a King known as Arthur, Sir Galahad, or Sir Lancelot.

To by no means be cruel but to give mercy unto him who asks for mercy,

To always do ladies, gentlewomen, and widows succor, to God be gallant.,

Knights with names of Sir Gawain, Sir Percivale, and Sir Lionell,

To never force ladies, gentlewomen, or widows, not to take up battles

In wrongful quarrels for love or worldly goods.

Men of the past, Sir Tristram De Lyones, Sir Gareth, and Sir Bedivere,

To never lay down arms, to seek after wonders, to help the powerless.

Sir Bleoberis, Sir La Cote Maletaile, and Sir Lucan were of the faithful,

When called upon to defend the rights of the weak with all ones strength.

Sir Palomedes, Sir Lamorak, also Sir Bors De Ganis were noble,

To injure no one, not to attack one another, to be a gentleman.

There were others whom rode together many moons ago, Knights of England,

Sir Safer, Sir Pelleas, and Sir Kay, they would serve a King back in the day.

To fight for the safety of ones country, to give ones life for one’s country,

Sir Ector De Maris, Sir Dagonet, and Sir Degore were of the dedicated.

To seek nothing before honour, never to break faith for any reason,

They are of the round table, they are a court of men of principles.

Men such as Sir Brunor Le, Noir, Sir Le, Bel Desconneu, and Sir Alymere,

To practice religion most diligently, too grant hospitality to anyone,

Each according to his ability, they were men like no other, Knights.

Sir Mordred was also one of these men whom once rode the land,

Whether in honour or disgrace, to make a report with the greatest

Fidelity to truth too those whom keep the annals, Knights of twenty five.

These were the men who’d lived many centuries ago in times so different,

They fought to protect the weak and too rid the land of evil forces.

They were men of King Arthur’s court, Knights of twenty five,

They were the Knights of the Winchester round table.

Keith Garrett

WILL I STILL BE WELCOME

Lord, I know you’re there and I have many things to say and ask,

Believe do I In a force, a being with such great understanding and love.

I have never seen your face but you have before been part of my dreams,

I have thought of you many times during my life, what does your face look like.?

Remember the monster I told you about,? well It’s still there and visits often,

I don’t understand why when I asked you to make It go away that It didn’t.

I told you that you could have my legs, the ones I like using to walk everywhere,

The funny thing Is that since that time I do have less of the monster and one of

My leg Is now a bit disabled as you know, Is there a lesson here that you want me to learn.?

It appears that you gave a little as you then took, compromise or be grateful for that

Which we do have, my faith In you still rests with me each day and night while I live.

I don’t care what people say or think but today I will tell you what I know just as you do,

In me lies the good, I do not or wish to hurt another human being with a raised fist.

Animals I choose not to harm just for the sake of hurting, my heart feels when tragedy strikes,

I hate this world of war so It Is that I do down and criticize the ways of this land and others.

There beats In me a heart that does care about the world and people, a man who will help those In need,

There also lives In me much anger for many reasons, anger that shows hate towards the human race.

Judged have I many out there In ways I never want to be judged, something In me that needs a change,

Lies have come from my lips enough times In my life just as I have taken that which Is not mine.

In a lifetime which I am still grateful for as It Is the greatest gift from god, I am at this time less than perfect,

Never In my lifetime will I reach perfection but knowing this Is where I will strive to be my best.

Will I still be welcome In heaven with all that you know and all that I confess on this once again day,

Will the door open for me, will you receive me as one of your children, thank you lord for listening.

Keith Garrett