I LISTENED TODAY


  My day had changed, some people appeared to me,


 As I was thinking of my losses and more to 
 lose again.

 Things become much brighter when you learn  of a 
 Worse pain,

 From a country, Guatemala is from where once they 
 Came.

 Our paths had crossed for a reason I do believe, 
 Meant to be,

 I gave them many things that were of help and 
 And worth far away.

 A man told me of life as a child in a place much 
 Different than here,

 A tortilla on the ground, brown and some green, 
 A fight for this meal.

 He spoke of trimming away the bad and eating 
 What was left,

 Of cheese that was molding after some days, clean 
 Away the worms, Okay.

 If we would throw upon the ground our food not wanted, 
 Pick up they would do,

 His story of a father who died from sickness and hunger 
 so that they could eat.

 All the clothing I gave to them would be to those over 
 There like gold or money,

 Shoes for their feet, today such a great feeling, 
 my plans had changed.

 He said to me, " If you think you're full and had 
 Enough to eat,  Save half

 For tomorrow, fore nothing matters more than the 
 Hunger inside,

 I listened today to a man who was once a child
 In a sorrowful place.
                         Keith Garrett

                       I REMEMBER,
                      KEITH GARRETT

 So many sunrises, so many sunsets ago, I remember,


 A place not forgotten, seemed like magical moments.


 A town lost in time but never in this man's mind,


 A friend with a name that's been spoken from 
 Inside.

 Where did you go when the sunset young man,


 Forever have you disappeared from me, where are you.


 I remember when we walked the streets of Yorba,


 We were free as two boys could be, Summer's of 
 Yesterday.

 Treasured are for me those wonderful days 
 In the sun,

 Skateboards and less troubled times for boys 
 That could run.

 A moment never drifts by that I don't recall my friend 
 Known by me,

 Marty was your name, pictures of you remain locked
 Inside.

 Something not finished, regrets and memories of
 Less painful days,

 I know of your loss fore i have lost too, take a walk 
 Back in time, dear friend.

 I live each day in a place that knows my name, home 
 Is far away,

 A wish to stand before you and say thank you for 
 A day in the sun with a friend.

 I remember, my friend from Yorba Linda.
                                                                                                   Keith Garrett  

                   GLOVES ON HIS HANDS


 He trains on his own, a hard an painful, lonely, 
 Road,

 Up with the sun, a day that's never done.


 A boxing man, at times beaten and battered,


 Win or lose, he'll give it all that he can.


 Blood is his sacrifice, swollen knuckles and hands,


 Stands and faces the enemy, twelve rounds if he can.


 Knocked to the canvas, back on his feet is this man,


 Eyes that are half closed, strength of a warrior.


 This chosen life, a courageous man with gloves 
 On his hands,

 A champion, a winner no matter the outcome.


                    Keith Garrett

                                                                                        
                   GLORY OF HEAVEN


 Lord, thank you for this life, the gift you 
 Have given,


 I picture you on your beautiful throne, watching 
 What has been.


 There Is much beauty created throughout this 
 Mysterious world,


 You are God, creator of everything and all that  
 We dream, See me, Lord.


 I think of you as I hope for life to continue on as 
 I am not finished yet,


 Thankful to have seen this land which you have 
 Dreamed In only days.


 Such a masterpiece with time limited as the glory of 
 Heaven forever to be,


 Landscapes of perfection never ending, hills of green 
 Grass blowing in the wind,


 Blue skies and nature live for eternity, The glory of 
 Heaven Exists not only in our minds.
                             Keith Garrett

                     FLIGHT OF A DRAGON


 With speed like the wind, to the sky it soars,


 So massive this beast, listen to the sound as it 
 Roars.

 Legend or myth, this monster of fire,


 Just the sight of it is hard not to admire.


 Of long ago these stories are told,


 FLIGHT OF A DRAGON, in a time of old.


 Where did they come from,? these creatures so wild,


 Born down below or in the mind of a child.


 Sometimes in your thoughts, look up in the air,


 Flight of a dragon, maybe still there.


                    Keith Garrett  

                                                                                          
               BORN, DIE, FORGOTTEN


 It is an amazing thing to be born, a gift of life,


 Mind and heart together tell a life's tale.


 Created we are by another two we learn to love,


 We grow to be men and women, childhood a memory.


 As we age, sickness, injury, maybe an accident 
 Will take us,

 Guaranteed, something will end our time in this 
 crazy place.
 

 What bothers me is that eventually we will be 
 Forgotten,

 There will at some moment be no one who thinks of 
 or remembers me.

                  Keith Garrett

                    BLUE JEANS


 Antique in time,  from the seventies, a pair 
 So fine,


 I remember I put them away, blue Jeans for another 
 Day.


 A touch faded were they,  comfortable in a certain 
 Way,


 Worn were they to a party, perhaps a barbecue or two,



 A Saturday night drive-in, what jeans were worn by you?



 Blue jeans I took from a shelf,  dusty, aged from time, 



 They fit me once before, now I can wear them in my mind.

                                         Keith Garrett

                      A GAMBLER


 Spin the wheel, maybe a roll of the dice,


 A bad hand at cards, so it's said, you'll lose 
 Your shirt.

 Bet on a game, football, basketball, baseball, 
 It's all the same,

 Your wallet is empty, credit cards are O.K.


 Horses are great, this time you feel lucky inside,


 At the finish line, a house could be on the line.


 Deal in drugs, surely a gambler you'll be,


 If it's not the law, a dead man you might be.


 A car thief is a risk, money at your feet,


 End up in prison, oh! what a life you lead.


 Ask of a loan shark, a favor please,


 Put up your life, no friend indeed.


 A gambler, a gambler, in each one of us may be,


  What risks do you take for all that you need.

           Keith Garrett 

                      A  
                LONER OF A MAN


 He saw the sun but when the sun went down,


 He wanted nothing more of that which was around.


 Heading for the great Colorado Rocky mountains said 
 He,

 I will not be back until I see a land of eternity.


 A long time ago, this man not many would know,


 As for the few, he treated them with kindness, 
 They would not forget.

 A loner of a man, no choice to love and care, 
 An inherited family,

 Because he did help another kind, they took from him 
 The love in his life.

 He wanted to be alone and he learned to care, again 
 Only pain and despair,

 A mountain man you see, he had a life, until life met 
 Eternity.
                          Keith Garrett

                FEBRUARY TWENTY SECOND,

                  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM


  February twenty second, a day so long ago, nineteen 
  Thirty nine,


 A little girl born to the world, Hello there! Barbara  
 Jean Cordischi.


 What a year!  The Yankees won the world series, 
 Gone with the wind,


 The Wizard of Oz was something special, so were you, 
 Mom.

 World war two was coming, life was just starting for you.



 In the forties you ran and played, chased butterflies
 In the sun,


 The fifties, you grew to a teen, rock n' roll and Elvis
 Were in.


 For you the sixties were of marriage and children,
 A touch older.


 So many changes in the seventies, a different place, 
 You were Mom.


 The years went by, decades watched us grow, that 
 Little girl was chasing you,


 You had a life and now life has said goodbye, the 
 Days are without your face.


 We remember you always, Mom, we love and miss 
 You every day.

               Happy birthday, Mom,
               Keith