A NEW TODAY

Time to let go of certain things, days past,

People I thought were my friends, ends.

Life does change, unexpected adventures,

A new day comes my way, a road of surprises.

Relief is at this moment a friend indeed to me,

Scary is change, where do I go from here I say,

A new day today, what is gone is no more, I am on my way.

Keith Garrett

YOUR EYES

Around them rests your face, less youthful but beautiful,

Although you have seen many days and Summer full moons.

A smile that lights up a room, many miles have been traveled by you,

Hair that you wear has slightly changed its color with the years.

Your eyes still sparkle, lines of life and time but you do not cry,

Tears in your eyes, of happiness and a life much grateful are you.

Keith Garrett

I OPENED MY EYES TODAY

Morning came, the light did shine through an open window,

I am again alive! scattered clouds drift by and say goodbye.

The birds do fly, singing songs on their way through the sky,

Trees sway within the breezy day, branches of color along the way,

I see the world, I opened my eyes today.

Keith Garrett

GRANDMOTHER

On the porch she sits, telling us stories from her life,

Times and places of difference, tales from long ago.

She likes to knit watching life go on around her everyday,

Playing games with the children, watching a show, baking.

She does not walk the same, as once when she was a younger lady,

Eyes that do not see the same wear glasses that make scenes clear.

Hair of a color so different from the dark, flowing that once was,

Aches and pains from a lifetime of once energy and much play.

Grandmother, you were once a young girl just like me, a picture i see,

You have had such a life from many stories sitting on the porch, told to me.

You are grandmother, one day i shall be like you, telling stories of my own life,

Different times, I will age and have had a life, I will be one day grandmother.

Keith Garrett

FOREVER

Above from the wide open sky the sun shines ever so bright,

Will it warm our world always or one day say a farewell.?

What if the wind that we feel but can’not see goes away,

Will it again below across the hills and make the trees sway.

The glowing moon sits like a lighthouse in the sky,

Watching, always watching but for how long will it rise.?

The rain falls from the sky, from the clouds that drift on by,

Will the drops take from the earth the thirst so as not to die.

See the animals run through the woods and across the plains,

Today they live somewhat free, tomorrow will they be.?

We live, we love, dance to the music, sing from our hearts,

Search for the happiness that makes it all worth living.

There are things that may be never, things never lost,

Nothing lasts forever fore forever we are not.

Keith Garrett

BEYOND MY REACH

With my hand stretched to the sky I can’not touch the stars so high,

Nor the clouds, a falling star, or the sun going down.

The wind, I can’not grab hold, a bird in flight,

A dream in the night, never a yesterday.

Beyond my reach is not my dreams,

It is not that which i pray for.

The hand of god I can’not touch, in my heart I can surely take hold,

It is not hope, nor faith, it is not a tomorrow.

Beyond my reach are many things,

Beyond my reach is not everything.

Keith Garrett

BENEATH AN APPLE TREE

Fall has come to visit once again, watch the leaves float down,

The air changes here in this place, this place of change over years.

One thing that stands still here among change is an older apple tree,

What stories it would tell if only it could speak the words of man.

Beneath this old apple tree rests in a grave a man who once lived,

Let’s say his name was Ben, who was he, so many years before he was,

Ben was a family man with a wife and children on a small farm.

A good life as he along with his family did age just as the apple tree did,

Ben one day went away, the apple tree stayed, it has aged until this day.

Beneath an apple tree lies the body, the remains of a man, a memory,

Watched over and time spent, always, a man and a tree together they be.

Keith Garrett

WORLDLY GOODS

We leave it behind, go only with that which we were born,

Over a lifetime we accumulate many possessions of love.

Material belongings come and go, of use for but a moment,

Why we treasure items made by another, there is a value.

These things we use in our everyday, tools, things of help,

Material things are not what rates us as human beings although

To some it is the measure of success of a man, sad as it is.

Worldly goods are sometimes earned and at times found,

Good in a person much more precious than gold from the ground.

Keith Garrett

THE PRICE YOU PAY

For that which we do right or wrong, that which we believe,

We stand and fight with many words, march with raise fists.

Our rights in life are at times threatened by higher powers,

We do what we must as we know we are doing the right thing.

Punished if we go against them, we may just win but we lose,

There are many possible sacrifices as we exercise these special rights.

The price you pay whether you do it right or not can be much,

The way we live, decisions made, choices made, the price you pay.

Keith Garrett

ONLY GRASS BENEATH ME

Away from the mistrusting world that is what i call home,

Out beyond the hills, a place where peace is real, follow me.

My travel takes me to where no anger or violence can find,

Come along, join me where life can be as it should be, love and peace.

Above only sky, blue, clouds of many shapes passing slowly by,

Look! I told you it would be here if we just kept looking, do you see.?

Only grass beneath me, green for miles in all directions, sky above,

For a few moments i lay my body down upon this cool, field of freedom.

I can build a cabin, feel free to join me in my quest for a better life,

Warm fires on cold nights, walk outside to nothing but beauty everywhere.

Only grass beneath me, a better world, here i remain for the rest of my time.

Keith Garrett