A BOY NAMED PAUL

I knew a boy by the name of Paul,
He went away late Summer or Fall.

When he was little he played In the snow,
These things I remember long ago.

I think of the smile he had on his face,
It fades from my memory yet there’s still a trace.

When I think of him It reminds me,
Of just how fragile this life can be.

It makes me feel special fore he came to me,
Just a short time before life set him free.

There was a boy by the name of Paul,
He laughed and played but that’s not all.

He had a life of which I speak,
Cut to short, It did not reach Its’ peak.

I’ll think of him as you do,
A soul In heaven, a part of you.

For his Mother, Father, and sister.

Keith Garrett

A CHANGING MAN

Sit down my darling, sit back and relax, just listen,

I’m here to tell you a story about the life of a man.

Like an outlaw roaming the countryside day to day,

Mistakes not realized as he rides blindly Into loneliness.

Selfish and angry, as this anger stole the beauty and hope

Of what the world had to offer, nothing seen through his eyes.

Riding each day Into every sunset, never watching It go down,

Wasting time, running from a chance for happiness, this man.

Into his life one day, a woman of such beauty, In his eyes he did see,

Still taking for granted all there could be, holding on to mistrust.

She went away, she went far away, she saw the sunset, not he,

A changing man lives today, he rides and rides with his head held high.

Mistakes understood, selfishness gone away, anger turned to laughter,

He can see the beauty of this world through his now opened eyes.

Wasting no time as he does not run, he watches the sun go down,

Someday with her again to see the sunrise, to watch the sun go down.

A changing man can see, a changing man Is he.

Keith Garrett

I’M GOING UP TO THE MOUNTAIN

I’ll be leaving In the morning at first daylight,

I’m going up to the mountain to breathe and think.

It’s time that I get away from here for a while,

There Is a very special place that waits for me.

Very different from down below where so much tension lives,

On the mountain there exists a calming peace like no other.

Tonight I’ll make camp and spend time alone with nature,

Sitting by a warm fire eating fresh fish caught In the stream.

Being alone can be a bit frightening just as most peaceful,

A gun I do carry In case of sudden or nightly visitors.

A drink In hand and this much needed time up here on this land,

Tonight I sleep, In the morning I’ll slow down and see the world.

Keith Garrett

IF ONLY A SHORT TIME LEFT

In the scheme of things all of us have only a short time in this world,

Death will take each one in its own way.

Some are fortunate to go fast,

Others have to fight until the end.

No answers to why certain souls have a long life,

While others leave this world very young.

If only a short time left for I,

What would it be that I’ll do.?

Do what everyone should do already,

Live all my days as if the last.

Keep on writing my thoughts to be remembered,

Convince them to spend more time with me now.

Be with my children and take the time,

Explain that I’ll always be near by.

Tell that special woman that she is loved forever,

Show her this until my clock stops ticking.

Make her know the next time the sun goes down

I’ll be here always by her side.

Keith Garrett

IF NO ONE COULD SEE

How would it be, what are your thoughts if no one could see,

Lights are on, the nights are dark, what’s the difference without sight.

There would be no color except that of black, Imagination was all you had,

How could you be a racist if your eyes were always closed, who would know.

If no one could see would the world be a better place for all to be,

We could learn to walk in peace, we would never have had to read.

We could speak and have much still to complain about,

We would not see what horror lives beyond our reach.

If no one could see then the beauty that lives would be a mystery,

There are several thoughts to these questions that I seek, tell me what you believe.

Keith Garrett

IF I WERE A GHOST

To be not anymore alive, not yet ready to touch the sky,

Wherever my spirit and soul must go, not ready to say goodbye.

If I were a ghost then what might my new world be like, some thoughts,

Faces and those whom I love I could see as they now can not until eternity see me.

Their words for me are heard as they know not that I am still around, I am here,

Not as I once was with body or identity but mind, spirit, and soul are together today.

Without the physical ability as once possessed my challenge of this new existence is now,

Remembering how I could pick things up and communicate seem now taken for granted.

If I were a ghost i would never again feel pain, no food would be needed to sustain,

Some good and some bad, a situation with feelings of sadness,

If I were a ghost i think it would be time to let myself go.

Keith Garrett

IF I WASN’T ME

You would not know me, my face, my name a mystery,

The voice that becomes a stranger to you would not be known.

Pass me by without a thought, no emotion or care, a stare,

There would for you be no memory of me, no late night dream.

If I wasn’t me would you wish to see, hear, or smile at me,

Would you be in want of a kiss without pain, a touch with no scare.?

Would a second thought be a possibility if I was a different me,

If I wasn’t me would you not forget me, would i still be a something.

Keith Garrett

IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW

May I be not always for you to see, if I should go away,

Do you think of me now or would I be remembered then.?

Today is a perfect day as the sun watches my traveled road,

My thoughts are many as the wind makes its journey around me.

What might change if tomorrow I say goodbye and disappear,

Each day will awake and each night will surely sleep, this without me.

Will you miss a poem or a smile meant only for you, a kiss once given,

If I leave here tomorrow will you seek me out, search this land.

Hand in hand would you walk along the ocean’s shore line,

Would you take me back to where your heart rests alone.?

Would you take hold, a woman such as you and not let me go,

If I leave here tomorrow then behind my heart would rest with you.

Keith Garrett

IF I HAVE TO DIE

IT NEEDS TO MATTER

A day will come when this will be, could be a sunrise, a sunset no more,

I can not imagine being gone, leaving this world behind appears unreal.

A life is special, all life as it is to be celebrated, the mark you leave behind,

Regrets, that which never was or could not be accomplished is a thought.

Our purpose for being here as it is only a short time compared to the birth of time,

What is it that’s to be learned from our visit to a land with more mystery always.

Discoveries are made as we search and explore a world so large but appears to get smaller,

What we have learned has helped our survival just as it does damage just the same.

If I have to die it needs to matter, I pray that i will one day be heaven bound,

If I have to go away then before my journey I wish to help another live one more day.

Keith Garrett

IF I EVER GROW OLD

From where my world began throughout my travels to different lands,

The history of my life up until this point has been written and put in a box.

I’m still young, but what is young, a number attached to the years lived here,

It’s a feeling inside, energy that you put out and the wanting of life keeps you young.

If I ever grow old then I’ll have been the lucky one, given a gift of more time to dream,

My book of life will be full of pages that describe who I am and then one day was.

There will be many thoughts and memories of a mans life, pictures of my existence,

Will I be forever remembered or perhaps thought of by those still living.

Will only the name of me, that which was given be all that rests of my life,

If I ever grow old will I be of good health and mind to sit back in a rocking chair

So that my children or Grandchildren may listen to me as I share my thoughts.

If I ever grow old then to the lord I’ll thank for this book of life full of stories told.

Keith Garrett