A TRUE OLYMPIAN

What seems like a lifetime of preparation and hard work Is here,

Sacrifice, blood, and sweat have been understood throughout.

For years getting ready for the ultimate competition Is recognized,

Whatever the battle you’ve been preparing for Is close, are you ready?

Stand and face your opponent, hold your head high and face your fear,

Strong Is the athlete who does finish whether win or lose, still a victory.

To make It there, be chosen to represent a country Is already a winner,

Raise your hand high In the air, wave the flag of colors and be also proud.

You are a true Olympian If you worked that hard and made It, head held high and proud.

Keith Garrett

A THANK YOU DEAR LORD

It’s me again, many thoughts swirl in my head,

For this life you gave to me, I am most grateful.

I wake each morning to the rain or shine,

You’ve let me walk your worldly creation, I’m still alive.

I forget at times and also for granted take,

This life is precious, there’s much good in the world.

A thank you, dear lord, for the things given to me,

The wonders of this land at times are hard to see.

I’ll try to remember that fragile is man,

Speak to you soon, I keep trying to understand and be the best I can.

Keith Garrett

A PLACE WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE

Their Is a place, It takes a lot to get there, a search everyone must make,

There’s a place, It might be so far from where you stand or closer than thought.

A place where dreams are made rests deep Inside the heart, desire to succeed,

They are made with hard work and sacrifice, up late Into the night, weary eyes.

Running every morning before the sunrise catches up with you, make that dream come true,

Climbing the mountain until the pain disappears Into a numbing nightmare of fight.

Rowing across the channel against the ferocious water, It’s up to you to make It back to shore,

You can do It!, this Is a place where dreams are made, battle through what tries your mind.

Through the jungle you make you way, nothing stops a man whom dreams of a better place,

Don’t give up, say this to yourself as you struggle for that fifty, fifty chance to make It a dream.

You are the men, the women who run when the bell rings, sirens take you beyond the danger,

Remember, It was all of you who passed the test so that a life may be saved, you had a dream.

Do you carry a gun,? a badge worn every day from sun till sun, this was your dream, my friend,

To win each day Is to go home and walk through that door with a kiss for a family, you survived,

A place where dreams are made, Inside the human soul, the spirit of those who never choose to lose.

Keith Garrett

A PICTURE

I stand here watching as I am not noticed but observe I do,

By an old, leafless tree I watch this scene hidden in the shadows.

A long time ago I see in front of me an old farmhouse of red,

Old, withered, fences surround the house and land, many trees in the distance stand.

A sky of clouded blue is a part of this picture seen from my eyes,

To the left of me slowly walking is a young man and horse,

Their shadows follow along as they head on down the road.

Covered with leaves is the ground as the look and feel of Fall is around,

A wagon sits unhitched close to where it is that I stand,

A picture from a long time ago, not recognizing where I am.

A picture of a place that once used to be, now just a picture of a memory.

Keith Garrett

A MAN WITH AN AX

Wood needs to be chopped, it sits waiting, many types and sizes,

Fall is in the air, chillier the air turns, work must be done.

A job it is to chop enough wood to warm a home for the Winter,

Must be done, perhaps no fun as it is an accomplishment to be proud.

Stack it in a pile, carry it piece by piece, chopped and split wood for a fire,

A smell, can you take it in, smell the aroma as it’s cut, stronger it grows.

A man with an ax gets this job done, he sweats from morning till the setting sun,

Swinging an ax, working as the cold moves closer,

The wood pile will rise higher.

A man with an ax is strong and determined,

He will succeed because he knows of its need,

When it’s done, a Winter of warmth,

When the setting sun, he knows the job is done.

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 okay.

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 FACE THAT LIES

The devils’ eyes have a face that lies,

It smiles at you with promises so false.

Giving you gifts of sinful things,

Changing your appearance, a picture of greed and evil.

It taunts you into believing that bad is good,

Material belongings are most precious, love not kind.

Stand and be recognized, a face that lies,

Don’t stare in the eyes of what does not cry.

Accept not a wish, not a gift from a demon spirit,

Give not of yourself, in an instance, he’ll own your soul.

A face that lies has many by his side,

They walk as you walk, do not be fooled, this is no heavenly stroll to the sky.

Keith Garrett

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOME

I thought about it a little more recently as i stroll through the park,

So sad it is for some of them as they are hard working and lost everything.

For others, there are no excuses only bad choices or criminal doing,

Some get lost in the cracks as the help that is for them needed does not care.

We have homeless heroes, how is it possible when they gave their all,

Some are sick and hurt as they lost more than their material life.

A different kind of home they now have, not what they remember,

Let me describe it to you, some of us are a paycheck away, maybe a day.

The roof over their head may be a clear sky or a rainy night,

The walls around them are not the same as they often change.

A couch wherever they sit, a bed wherever they rest their head,

Television set, that which is taken in by their wishing eyes.

A shower for granted taken each day, when will a shower come their way,

gone now is the refrigerator that was, like an animal they search now.

A different kind of home not that they can call their own, they roam,

Circumstances of why, many reasons you see, sadness wears many feet.

Keith Garrett

A CHANCE TO SEE

A chance to see fore never have I been able to walk in light,

A chance to watch the sunrise as never before seen but dreamed.

A chance to see the trees sway in the wind as the wind never seen,

A chance to see the mountains that I never thought a reality.

A chance to see the clouds so big in the sky drifting slowly by,

A chance to see the waves in the ocean only heard through time.

A chance to walk without a cane, to be free, walk, and see,

A chance to see a smiling face that might smile back at me.

A chance to see all the things that I have always dreamed,

A chance to see what’s never been before these eyes,

A chance, a chance, to see what is in front of me.

Keith Garrett

A BOAT LOST

Slowly floating, adrift in waters so calm,

Why does it have no travelers, alone?

Fog and mist surround this shape of wood,

Where has it been, where does it travel.?

No answers does it give to questions,

Drifting, slowly, drifting to a place of nowhere.

Keith Garrett