JUST PASSING THROUGH


 A man searching for something, always searching,


 He travels through the desert, a town in his sight.


 On a horse he rides, the sun upon his back,


 Dressed in western clothing of the time.


 What he wants is a bed for the night,


 A warm meal that satisfies, a bath much needed.


 He heads for the saloon, a drink in his thoughts,


 Sit down for a game of cards with faces of a town.


 Just passing through, a man and his horse,


 Both bedded down for the night,


 When the sun rises, his search will continue.

            Keith Garrett

          I DREAMED I WAS A COWBOY


 Dressed in jeans, a black hat and boots,


 On a horse of beautiful color, I rode.


 A ranch up high in Colorado, I dreamed,


 Working, putting up fences with cowboys.


 A long day was a good day for me,


 Up in the dark, before the roosters.


 Breakfast was early, earn your money,


 Sweat and a little fun, working in the sun.


 I dreamed I was a cowboy, riding the open land,


 The dreaming cowboy, is a hard working man.

             Keith Garrett

              HE TOLD ME OF HIS LIFE

 As he sat down in his rocking chair he began to speak,


 With a smile, he invited me to sit and went about his 
 Story.

 His life as a child, at the beginning of a war for 
 Independence,

 On a farm in South Carolina, he lived with a father, 
 Brothers, sisters.

 He went on to tell of adventures in the Summer just 
 Before it happened,

 A big house, great times with family, working the farm 
 Each day was tiring.

 He must have been about ninety years old now, the war 
 And those days long gone,

 A childhood recalled, swimming in the pond with a  
 Friend or two, the night's moon.

 He told me of this war being all around them, nothing  
 Would be the same, Much change,

 Tears in his eyes as he described that time and place  
 Where brothers and family died.

 He sits in his chair today, many years away from there, 
 He lives in that house today,

 He sits in his chair on that porch where as a child he  
 Played, he told me of his life.
                                         Keith Garrett

                                                                                                        
                    GHOSTS CAN TALK


 Most of this world never truly believes that life 
 Ends not here,


Death may not be a misery that we all wait to endure.


 We are surrounded, if indeed you do not believe in this,


 There are those and many long ago spirits which wander 
 Alone.

 Most of us are not enough in thought or listening to 
 Hear ghosts talk,

 Heaven is there but why are they everywhere? Ghosts can  
 Talk, they walk.

 We want to believe that we are never ending, fear that 
 We are not forever,

 Odd things happen, strange sounds in the night, misplaced 
 Or lost items.

 They speak in ways we can not ever dream,  watch us as we 
 Slumber in the night,

                                                                                                         
             GHOSTS CAN TALK

              Keith Garrett

         LET'S NOT DESTROY ONE ANOTHER


 Worry do we about the enemy from far away lands,


 More of a chance to be invaded by an enemy within.


 From protests of angry citizens, violence occurs,


 Nothing will ever get better in the way they try 
 To be heard.

 Rioting in the streets, destroying ones own 
 Neighborhood,

 How to accomplish anything when nothing you do is 
 Of good.

 Shootings, fires, and bombs across a nation said to be 
 Great,

 We show the world ignorance, our children are taught 
 Terrible things.

 Let's not destroy one another as we are doing just fine 
 So far,

 Wake up America, what will all this destruction do for 
 You?
                   Keith Garrett

                                                                                        
                 KEYS TO THE KINGDOM


 For whatever it's worth you came out on top,


 Power in the hands of the right and wrong is scary.


 You are human but who are you really behind those eyes,


 Through the years, from any shore, leaders are seen with 
 Fear and war.

 Behind guarded doors of a house, Palaces and castles on 
 Foreign soil,

 Keys to the Kingdom are held by those with or without 
 Morals.

 There are battles fought to hold onto or gain possession
 Of many keys,

 Keys to secret places, vaults, and of course, keys to 
 The end of the world.

 Some keys should be destroyed, taken from them who misuse 
 Keys to the kingdom.
                                      Keith Garrett

                                                                                      
               JUDGMENT HAS A FACE


 From behind a door, walking down a street, 
 Who are they,

 They wander around, they look without a friendly sound.


 With paper and pen, not a friend as they may smile 
 But pretend,

 Watched you are as you walk, speak, examined over a 
 way you dress.

 Judge me with your thoughts but what is there to see 
 In you,
 I am judged by those whom I never again see, strangers, 
 Some family.

 Judgment has a face, not the same as it changes from day 
 To place,

 We are judged with the rotation of our world, travels 
 With the wind.

                                            Keith Garrett

            I AM NOT A RICH MAN

                                                                                           
               BUT RICH I AM


 I do not own a home or a treasure chest of gold,


 Stocks and bonds are few, diamonds are a little too.


 I am not a rich man as calculated by statistics and 
 Daily man,

 A special car or a vacation home does not show of my 
 Value,

 I am not a rich man, estimated by paper money or material 
 Things.

 But rich I am, If life is valued in a simple way, just a 
 Regular day,

 These things are free but of gold bars to me, listen to 
 What makes a rich man.

 If love is in your day then rich you are in a most 
 Special way,

 I can walk and see with my every day, I breathe freely, 
 I'm okay.

 A roof over my head, clothes on my back, never to bed 
 Am I hungry,

 So much can cost money, beauty, staying healthy, a song 
 you sing is free.

 But rich I am, with that which is mine and my thoughts 
 Every day.

                   Keith Garrett

                IN THE COURSE OF A LIFETIME


 Born we are, each of us with a purpose unless 
 Altered,

 Nothing stops what we do depending on anything in 
 Our way.

 We see so much with these eyes of mystery given from 
 the master,

 What about those without sight, is there a gift that 
 Comes from here.

 Nothing taken for granted when you never saw what you 
 Are missing,

 You now see with your heart and mind, this is what 
 Challenges your time.

 We travel a thousand roads trying to choose the best  
 Way to go, we don't know,

 Decisions of intelligence, luck along the way, a prayer 
 Of hope and we may be okay.

 In the course of a lifetime, we pass each other by,  
 Shake hands, laugh, And say goodbye,

              Keith Garrett

            I'LL LEAVE THE LIGHT ON


 I remember the day when you went away,


 Your bags packed, you've grown so fast, on your way.


 A choice has been made, I'll stand by your side,


 What you believe in your heart is the way you must 
 Fight.

 Far away the war has not stopped,


 I'll leave the light on until you come home.


 I've written these letters for fifty years now,


 Missing in action is what was said to me about you.


 You're still my love, what has become of you?


 My life is less as you have not come back.


 I've held on to hope, a prayer every night,


 After fifty years the reality of not seeing you hides 
 From my mind.

 I'll leave the light on as I have since the day you 
 Drove away,

 I'll leave the light on until my last day.


                       Keith Garrett