BILLY THE KID

A story to tell as on the eve of the civil war it would come to be a birth.

An Irish neighborhood in New York City, November twenty third eighteen fifty-nine.

William Henry McCarty JR. later known as the infamous outlaw Billy the kid.

A mother known as Katherine, a father unknown, a little boy would never know.

William H. Bonney would one day join the Lincoln County war, life would become short.

Legend tells that he killed twenty one men, later a folk hero is told.

Five foot nine he stood, blue eyes, smooth complexion, sometimes a friendly sort.

Some say he was a neat dresser, liked to sport his Mexican sombrero.

Billy was skilled with firearms, a cowboy, gambler, cattle rustler, he was an outlaw.

Sheriff Pat Garrett would come to hunt him down, Billy was only a kid, what waited for him.

He was cornered, shot, and killed by a man, a lawman July fourteenth eighteen eighty one.

He was only twenty one when his life ended, a young man dies back in a time at Fort Sumner

New, Mexico, Pat shot him down, He was an outlaw but he was once a mother’s son.

Rest in peace Billy the kid.

Keith Garrett

FLESH AND BLOOD

A friend, a doctor, to them a healer of anything,

For granted they take this human being of care.

He is not god, not a miracle worker they should know,

Flesh and blood, no magical powers does he possess.

He could not save a life fore he is a mortal man,

How could they expect more from him, he didn’t understand,

Flesh and blood, they found out he was merely flesh and blood.

Keith Garrett

“FENCES”

God created heaven and earth so that we could live together,

I was thinking as I walked down the street, I looked at a fence,

Touching it with my hands I realized a man would have to climb,

To get to the other side he would have to go beyond where was legal.

This is my space! you can’t come near it, since the beginning of time,

The world was meant to share, be free to roam, we started building fences.

Around our land, fences to keep others out and mark our territory,

It’s all been broken up into pieces, always a fight that leads to war.

How can any one man or nation own a piece of the sky, stay away they say,

Beyond the sky, do we all have a right to it or is it claimed by the powerful?

Stay away from here! this is my ocean, be warned or we go to war, do you hear.?

No drink of water for you, someone else owns this lake, river, or stream,

Dirt is not free anymore, there’s a price to be paid, money to be made.

Be careful as soon the air we breathe will not be free, who takes charge I wonder,

If we lived as one and shared the land, there would be room for every soul and man.

Keith Garrett

WAKE TO THE MORNING SOUNDS

Early it is before the sun rises when in the darkness lies quiet,

The singing of birds can be heard from many directions.

A breeze within the morning can be listened to softly,

In the distance the sound of a car, sirens screaming.

Squirrels on top of the roof running, their sounds in the tree,

Squawking scrub jay resting on the wire, waiting for peanuts.

Coffee brewing in the pot, the sound of an alarm clock,

Warm shower water and some music on the radio.

Wake to the morning sounds, listen closely to that which is around.

Keith Garrett

THIS ROAD TRAVELED’

Here I am, standing now still, which way shall I go, which way shall I go,

Many paths’ have I traveled’ until now these crossroads’ of my life.

There’s no possibility, none at all In going backward, there’s no turning back,

I’ve taken a look at what’s behind me and now forward Is the way, the way.

We store memories In our minds’ but we can’t live In the past, not the past,

There’s no living for the memories, we live, for now, we live for tomorrow.

I now have a new way to go Into the rest of my life a new road I’ve chosen,

It’s this road traveled, It’s my road to follow.

Keith Garrett

THINKING OF MAN

Wow!, think about it, everyone has changed just as the times have changed,

Way back in time when food had to be hunted for daily, appreciation for a bite.

Today fast food on every corner that is slowly killing all around the world,

When we don’t finish our plates then we simply toss it away, down the drain.

There was a time when a man could drink from a lake or stream, refreshing,

Today without an intelligent thought it is perhaps for a dollar polluted water.

Way back in the west, many places, in fact, a body could rest their weary head

Under a tree, make camp and sleep, hunt, have some peace without a stare,

We come to the future where a person is now labeled homeless, we stare.

Loitering and vagrancy are the words used, no sleeping, hard to survive,

Move along it will be said to the one who dares to be free and live in peace.

It’s come to where neighbors fighting and the sounds of sirens are the way,

Nature is screamed at, a burden to many as they make their beautiful sounds in the day.

Trash in the streets but that’s okay, another will clean it if they come this way,

Thinking of man, this way of the future, we now pay a price for water, air, and even dirt.

Keith Garrett

THINGS I REMEMBER

The Summer heat, laughter and Ice cream cones,

Basketball, kickball, under a favorite tree with dreams.

Reading books, Cafeteria food and of course there was you,

Walking in the morning sun to school, before we were thirteen,

Elementary school, remember with me many Yorba Linda scenes.

Yearbooks and mad magazines, swimming pools and little league teams,

Stop N’ go on a bicycle for a coke, maybe a magazine, who knows,

Seven eleven and pinball, a pizza and maybe a Saturday show.

These things I remember from a beautiful town what is a lifetime ago,

We traveled many roads within the four seasons, we met at different schools,

Things I remember from within my mind, together these adventures with you.

Once you were a child, a teenager in the sun running wild, days so long ago,

Do you recall them, dear friend, I wish that I could see you just once again.

We left shadows, a part of each and every one of us back there in that special town,

We hung out and ran through the streets until our childhood sun went slowly down.

A Yorba Linda town.
Keith Garrett

THERE I GO DREAMING AGAIN

Why is everything backward and upside down,

Someone is always offended by something indeed.

We have war and murder from sea to sea, terrorism,

But wait! the pledge of allegiance is quite the concern.

More power for wars, countries arming themselves strong,

The confederate flag is such an important subject, wow!

When will they focus on the sickness in this world,

When will these silly games in our country stop,

There I go dreaming again, that the world won’t come to an end.

Keith Garrett

JUST LISTEN!

On the shore, sounds of the ocean are heard,

You can hear crashing of the waves, close your eyes.

In the afternoon, a Summer breeze, it whispers to me,

A windy day, Just listen! to the sounds that come your way.

A cricket on a warm, humid night, silence visits but there is life,

Just listen! you can hear whatever visits your wanting mind.

Keith Garrett

JUST AN ECHO

If you listen carefully, your memories can be heard,

Words and phrases spoken or listened too are recorded.

Thoughts in your head feel at times louder, just an echo,

Sounds and scenes from a lifetime played over, can you hear.?

Noises from children playing back when just a child, just a child,

Friends from long ago just an echo in time, listen, they can be heard.

In the span of a lifetime like the wind moving by, created in an instance,

An echo in time we will be, just an echo in time for you and me.

Keith Garrett