IF YOU HAD NO TOMORROW

Would the birds be a sound singing in your ear,

The mountains not so much appreciated, would their beauty appear.

Would you see the sky in a different way,

Things would become precious for only a day.

The taste of a peach would rest in your mouth,

No time to fight as the hourglass runs out.

The wind against your face, the oceans spray,

Your feet in the sand, to loved ones, what would you say.

If you had no tomorrow, if you could do one last thing,

Would you thank the Lord for giving you everything?

Keith Garrett

I STAND BEFORE YOU

It is I lord, a man with many questions, do you hear me,

I want to see you fore I do not know your face, do you see mine.

My voice echoes with sound, I speak from my mortal lips,

Your words are known to the world, I can surely hear you.

When I cry are my tears held by you with love and compassion,

Is the rain that falls from the sky merely sorrow from those that died.

If the bad, the evil choose to show what’s in them no good,

Do the good of heart possess in them the same temptation for sin.

Love is a thought, a feeling of warmth that touches ones’ soul,

Why is it painful, why does it grow old, please tell me O’ lord.

I stand before you just a poor man with a kind wanting heart,

I ask you to guide me through a pain that does haunt.

Sit with me lord and rock me to sleep, nightmares to dreams,

Take from me this fear that angers my peace.

Keith Garrett

I SEE YOU

You remember me as I think of you, again I see you,

Not during the day as I am awake with the light of day,

I see you in my thoughts and mind, you never went away.

What do you have to say In my dreams beyond the day,

Another vision has come to me while I sleep in the night,

It is you as you once were, why did you visit this time?

I see you at different times, In my heart and wanting eyes,

You can’t be real anymore, a memory that grows older each day,

I see you whenever I want, you’re stronger than before you went away.

I miss you, sir, you know that each moment I feel about you a certain way,

Your smile lives with me always, It hurts me so that you went away.

Keith Garrett
For you, Tony Horton

“FRIENDS”

Do you recall your first friend, do you know them today,

Did they disappear with childhood and drift beyond another day.

I had a friend, a lifetime ago, back when I was only four, I remember,

His name was Donnie, glasses, a Winter cap, a long time ago friend.

Where is he today, no longer a child, I would not know him anyway,

A picture frozen in my mind, he will stay young for the rest of my life.

Kenneth, James, David, and cotero, I think of them from Kindergarten,

A boy named Grover, we were just little boys, innocence of a time now over.

Remember those friends from life’s morning until the night of your life,

So many names but special ones we think about as we travel along,” friends.”

Think of someone you once knew, take a moment, go back to your special place,

I think it’s supposed to be this way, a reason we go through phases and changes.

There are times when friends must be left behind, some with us for a lifetime,

Remembering friends who are out there somewhere, do they remember.?

Keith Garrett

FREEDOM, LAND, AND LIFE

What does it all mean, has the value changed from the beginning,

Did we really start out free, pick a spot to call our own, a home.

How free are we, only as much as they say we can be,

Freedom appears lost, you own a piece of land, taken with a powerful hand,

You work and sweat, blisters on your hands, how long will you stand.

Life is precious, thrown away, discarded through a world of wars,

They will take your life if it’s worth the price, who tells the lies?

Freedom, land, and life, taken away with a flash of light.

Keith Garrett

GREEK GOD OF THE SKY

It rests way up high, giant in the dark of night,

So far away, when was it formed, millions of years from today?

Beyond the stars, spinning in outer space, thirteen rings around its face,

Father of the sky, seventh planet from the sun, will you ever perish and go away?

You go by a name known to all from the beginning of man, Uranus be your name,

Quite strange as you spin forever tilted on your side, a collision be the reason why.

You orbit with others of names which have been formed so many human lifetimes ago,

Beyond the Earth, space is a place of much mystery just as you hold a mystery of your own.

Keith Garrett

RISE UP!

Anywhere and everywhere the enemy hides throughout the world,

They are not counted as their number is growing in silence.

They are of sick minds as they plot, attack, and steal lives from family,

Their belief that they are heaven bound for killing is a false belief, a fantasy.

Terrorism of any kind deserves a train ride to hell as it has no color,

Something has been so wrong in this world since the dawn of man.

Rise up!, together we need to stand on our feet, join hands around the world,

It is a really scary thing but we are all in trouble, dangerous times are here.

A story not so pretty, the sun still shines on our every day but we must see it all,

In between the beauty and our everyday dreams remains echoes of a world’s screams.

Never can we allow ourselves to be fooled by that which we read or the big speech,

Rise up all people and question the lies that are told and don’t be easily deceived.

Keith Garrett

I TURNED NINETY FOUR

Do you recall being thirteen, So long ago for me, Like a dream,

Playing with friends, girls, and boys whom I haven’t seen for years.

Where are they, I wonder If my old school mates are alive, once a child,

Growing up as a teen full of energy, malt shops, drive-In movies, and T.V.

A few friends still In touch with Is a most special gift of all, I recall,

Vietnam came along, A sad song, some boys I once knew are now gone.

Times have changed, music, cars, dancing, and those long lost childhood ways,

I was once thirteen with dreams of growing up and having a wonderful family.

These things of wonder are now all gone, once my future now the past,

I was at a time very young playing In the sun, Sitting here now I am old,

I turned ninety four, memories of a life playing In the sun with friends now gone.

Keith Garrett

I HAVE WALKED A LONG ROAD

Jesus on one side and the devil on the other, they follow always,

I have walked a long road with a little sin, some kindness, and regret.

They are not seen with eyes of sight but you can feel them both testing,

I have walked the center of this road for much of my time, I see both sides.

The devil smiled whenever I did wrong, on the other side I saw Jesus cry,

When no remorse was seen in my heart, the devil laughed, Jesus never left.

My eyes could see the darkness as the devil walked on my left side wanting,

Turning to my right Jesus and his light never has given up on me, I still walk.

No longer do I walk the center of that long road as closer to the right I feel,

I reach for his hand but still fingertips away, the devil stands strong but I am stronger.

For all that I have done wrong I do live with but I ask forgiveness to those and to him,

As they both walk the road I walk where the light shines upon my soul.

Keith Garrett

DEATH WALTZ

A different world we live in today, many a change,

Sacrifices must be made, a populated planet needs change.

Cooperation as would be a team, this sickness is not a dream,

Those who rebel for their self entitled, selfish lives,

An invisible death sentence spreads fear beyond another night.

There are the ones that go against, ignorant where they stand,

Be a little smarter as this silent war tears throughout our land.

It’s a death waltz, watch as not many stays in place,

Thinking nothing is wrong, we can’t be reached walking on the beach.

Playing in the parks, gathering for a party, a hug, and handshake,

Some just don’t believe as others refuse to see a global tragedy.

A death waltz, dance in rhythm from land to land, around the world,

Take a chance, some will perish, spread it around, a virus may kill all.

Keith Garrett