CANE IN HAND
We start out young just as the early morning sunrise,
Follow a path do we watching the sun make its way along.
Journey do we through the days just as the light slowly lessens,
Along the way we see many things, the sun passes over all there is.
The sun will one day set, as of now it does slowly move to the West,
Darkness will one day fall just as we will all grow from young to old,
Cane in hand we are found, at sunset, the sun going down.
Keith Garrett
MEMORIAL DAY
When we think of Memorial Day, what is it to us,
Is it the looked forward to barbecues with friends.?
Maybe the beach and lying in the sun,
Going to the park with our children, relaxing.
Is it watching movies, drinking cold beer for the day,
Going away camping, forgetting the troubles in our way.?
My father traveled the oceans, sailed the seven seas,
A navy man in the Korean war, his journal tell me
Of all the places, lands where he would be.
I hold in my possession the poetry he wrote on a ship in a time of war,
The things I have to remember him are not just in a wooden box,
They are stored in my heart.
When the sound of planes, jets, or what flies on Memorial day,
Listen carefully, for the ones you love, miss, or lost, think of them today.
For those who are lost, missing, who gave their lives for what they believed,
Pray for all of them, the thousands of family members who rest together, IN HEAVEN.
Keith Garrett
CAN YOU SEE ME, FATHER
My thoughts of you are from over forty years past,
Once a reality and a life that was our everyday scene.
Now memories kept alive from a child to a man,
Father, you remain In my heart, I keep you alive.
I can not see you except In my dreaming, closed eyes,
If not for a picture I have to keep your face In my mind.
Can you see me father, have you watched as my life marches on,
I pray that some of the things I’ve done have made you proud.
One day I’ll see your wonderful face and speak of those days long gone,
A different life In heaven, I’m much older now, no longer a child.
Can you see me, father, do you see my face, do you know a son’s name.?
Keith Garrett
CAN YOU HEAR ME LORD
Tears running down my face, this face created by you,
Lie do I when to those i say there’s no pain, I cry.
It is you O’lord who sees me as sitting here I search,
Within myself the answers are not found, am I a good man.?
Help me! rid me of this sorrow eating away at my crying heart,
Listen to me, can you hear me, lord, can you hear my thoughts.?
Are you near lord, are you with me as I ask of you to love me,?
Comfort this foolish, pain -soaked man of a thousand tears.
Let me hear of a song that says love still lives in our world,
Give me something to hold onto as I dream and breathe.
Can you hear me, lord, will you hear me tonight,
As I drift off to sleep will you sit with me, will you say good night.?
Keith Garrett
BY THE NAME OF SOLOMON
Late eighteen hundreds in the North somewhere,
A young boy by the name of Solomon had a life.
From Virginia, Mississippi, his family traveled,
An older brother and of course a loving mother.
A father of no more but remembered and loved,
Together they worked a piece of land, all they had.
No longer slaves but yet enslaved in their world,
Solomon had a dream to learn and become something.
He ran away, saw the reality of what a brother had said,
He would have to go back home, for now, work the field,
A boy by the name of Solomon still dreamed, grew to be.
Keith Garrett
A HORSE CALLED STORM
Jet black, tall and strong, he stands in the morning light,
Out in the grassland roams this free spirit.
Never ridden, not a man calls him theirs,
Answers to not a soul this horse left alone.
His name is storm, dark as the night,
Moves like lightning, He sounds like thunder.
Fierce and at times mean is this beast,
Untamed by man, natural and free.
He is friends with each day, land where he runs,
A horse called storm standing in the sun.
Keith Garrett
” BROKEN”
There is another way to see our world and lives,
More to strive for, to make better as we grow.
If we would see from the start there can be improvement,
Imagine, set it in your mind that all things are not perfect,
Material, physical, all pieces of life are in fact, ” broken”
We build and put back together, fix with our hands and minds,
We improve by learning, listening, from less we can have more.
Is “broken” the way we should see all around us too improve,
The time is now to rebuild, put those pieces together, keep mending.
Keith Garrett
BROKEN HEARTS
When I looked into their faces I saw hopelessness, lost,
Contact from their eyes was little, I saw shame, it’s ours.
We made and brought sandwiches and hot coffee to the hungry,
He was sitting there at a table in the park where many others gather.
Bundled in the clothing worn mostly every day they are people, human beings,
They each have a story to be told, listened too as they all have no home.
Called worthless, society as a whole turns their backs on them, are they not worthwhile,
I could feel the broken hearts from where I stood, a young one my girlfriend asked “are you hungry”,?
Yes! he replied Immediately, eating a sandwich in seconds, other words, “I haven’t had coffee in awhile.
These things taken for granted by most, I feel some shame as I worry about myself and my pain,
I didn’t put them there, this i know, i have the power to make a piece of Christmas for them better,
A handshake and a Merry Christmas back to us they replied, broken hearts, piece by piece mended.
Keith Garrett
BROKEN GLASS
Without any shoes, I carefully walk,
Each step I take a chance to be cut.
All around me, I can’t see every piece,
One is sure to find me if cautious I’m not.
Where are my shoes, why aren’t they on,?
A lot safer I’d be, less chance to be hurt.
There’s broken glass everywhere,
Watch the way you step and you’ll not be wounded.
Keith Garrett
BREATHE FOR ME
Step outside Into the morning light, Breathe deep, breathe In life,
Precious Is the day, who doesn’t give thanks for many a breath always.
Breathe for me as your life force Is seen with each day, with eyes of green,
Breathe for me so that you don’t go away, for you, I ‘ll breathe more each day.
God gives the breath of life but for granted It Is that all the world takes,
Air Is special, the cleaner It remains the happier and longer we might be.
Breathe for me, Breathe In all the life there Is to be.
Keith Garrett
