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 TRIP TO ANYWHERE


  I'm searching for loose change, standing by the 
  Car wash,
  I'm happy just waiting for a ride.

  Here it comes, sir! does the bus stop at 82nd street?

  My pink Cadillac is a stolen car, I just gave it a name.

  This hard land does not make me a lucky man,

  My wife and I were once the honeymooners, now 
  Trouble in paradise.
  So young and in love, we were two for the road,

  The wish I have is to be back in your arms.

  "Don't look back" says a man with sad eyes,

  I used to be a man at the top, now I have restless 
  Nights,
  The bus stops here where I rendezvous with her,

  Give the girl a kiss and stare over the rise of the sun.

  We go to a place and watch a T.V. movie,

  "I'm always here when you need me "she says"

  We watched seven angels, It started to rain,

  There was a great thunder crack.

  Some of us have hearts of stone, not us,

  Bring on the night, when the lights go out, so peaceful,

  Shut out the light.

                             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 does this horse left alone.


  His name is storm, dark as the night,


  Moves like lightning, 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

                                EYES IN THE NIGHT


   What is it that lives beyond the light of day,


   Lurks, wanders in the dark, exists in the night.


  Search for food, a task that's taken much for 
  Granted,

  While we slumber in silence, eyes in the night survive.


  Many are they that fly, quietly on the prowl this night,


  Over fences, there are the ones that move carefully, 
  Slowly.

  Crawling along the ground, there's a fight to see the 
  Morning light,

  Scraps of food, nourishment for a chance to do it all 
  Over again.

  So many eyes in the night, traveling along, the hunter or 
  The hunted,

  Big over the small, stronger defeats the weak, faster may 
  Just escape.

  Eyes in the night, for many, could be a scary sight, on  
  This Dark night,
                             Keith Garrett                       

                                      EXPRESSIONS


  There are those with looks of a fear unexplained,


  Scared of something,the world does not understand.


  Laughing in the park, a man, and woman,


  Happy are their faces as seen from the street.


  Crying all alone under a tree, tears of life,


  Sadness spills out of a heart so broken.


   Anger sits in the soul of a human being with hurt,


   Upset at the loss of loves rejection.


   Many faces of this life worn, expressions learned,


   Expressions so true, those of me, those of you.


                                         Keith Garrett

                                  HE CLOSED HIS EYES



  In the dark of night when the noise and trouble 
  Were alive,


  He heard cries from the violence, he closed his eyes.



  Flashing lights, gunshots lived in the only surroundings
  He knew,


  What did he do, he closed his eyes to a tomorrow that 
  Would be new.


  His name is Michael, from a bad place not pretty, a life 
  Had not a chance,


  How did he make it out of there, He closed his eyes to 
  The ugly side of life.


  He closed his eyes to what made his mother cry, he
  Would survive,


   From a life filled with nothing to a professional 
   Football Player in time.

                                           Keith Garrett

                                   HAUNTING CRIMES



  There may be echoes if you listen really close,



  I think they just might wander where they died.



  From way back in time, Nazi Germany and haunting 
  Crimes,


  Not part of any war, these cowardly monsters from a 
  European time.


  Crimes against humanity, crimes against heaven and 
  God,


  Innocent souls, tortured and discarded as if they were 
  Nothing.


  Do they rest in peace or do many linger, wander lost in a 
  Lost place,


  Haunting crimes, the living remember for the dead, 
  horrible times.


  I pray they rest in peace, a new life in heaven, saved 
  From The horrible beast,


  I fear that some still roam in that place, set them free, let 
  Them be.
                                           Keith Garrett

                           A MINUTE FROM HEAVEN



  I live a life that seems more than half way done,


  Started at a beginning, seen more than sun to sun.


  I've walked this land and had my share of pain,


  Friends whom have come and gone, love them just 
  The same.

  A family through struggles and laughter, 


  Children grow up so fast, will they only remember 
  My name.

  I had my share of good, other things I've paid the price,


  All I ask of you dear lord is that you consider my fight.


   A minute from heaven is what we have each day,


  Step by step when the time has come, would you kindly 
  Show me the way.
                                             Keith Garrett

                              A PAGE FROM YESTERDAY


  Memories, a window to our past, pictures of special 
  Times,
  Friends' we once knew, where are they now, somewhere.

  There are those no longer among us, their story Is 
  Written,
  A book closed, put away on a shelf but forever cherished.

  We thought as children that life was magic and wishes,

  Teenagers having fun trying to figure out where we were 
  Going.

  We were fortunate to have been given such friends' back 
  In time,
  Lucky If we are still blessed with their presence today.

  We take a page from yesterday, off comes that book from 
  Its place,
  Remember that friend In our heart that never disappears, 
  That face.

  A voice that was once heard, a smile, now an echo,  
  Forever A thought,
  Well! today some of those faces, those voices, and a 
  Smile Remembered
  Are here to share a night, a memory and a page again 
  Written, A book.
                                   Keith Garrett  

                                INTO THE WOODS


  Leave behind the concrete jungle and every day 
  Expectations,

  Step out of your work shoes and Into another frame 
  Of mind.

  Away from the pain and sorrow of what a love 
  Destroys,

  Your heart and mind, leave far behind.


  Walk your feet Into a world of darkness,


  Hearing only the crunch of what's beneath you.


  No stress or the fast pace of It all,


  Only trees that watch as you pass by them all.


  Where all Is quiet except creatures that stir,


  This Is a different world where you will not be 
  Heard.

  No worries or crying over what's out there,


  Into the woods, alone I am there.


                                 Keith Garrett