WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME

I have had my share of physical and emotional hurt, I stand strong,

When It Is said that I’m a mean sort of man, then you don’t know who I am.

If talk about me and criticism without the facts behind my back Is what you choose,

Not a friend of mine you will find when your mouth opens much to wide.

My struggles are accepted, I bow down to no one for anything,

I’ve been laughed at for my writing by mostly those whom should love and support me.

When you think you know me whether you do or you don’t,

What kind of person might you be If you wish failure and hurt on me.

Music is fine as Bruce Springsteen the boss Is one listened to anytime,

I walk the miles and feel sorry for those whom wear not a smile.

If you have not a care then shake not this mans working hand,

When you think you know me, think again, are you really family or friend.

Keith Garrett

WHEN YOU SEE THEM

Somewhere among the crowd one of them may be shopping,

At a restaurant they could be sitting at a table before your eyes.

A beautiful day at the beach in some year past or present they were,

Might have been at a ball game cheering just as you were having a day.

Walking down the street it could be you pass them by each day not knowing,

When you see them it is most possible that the years have disguised them.

Sometimes and not to often we may slow down and take notice of a face,

It may not be whom we wish to see or maybe the most fortunate are we.

At times I wonder if down the street they may live a neighbor not known by me,

A nod on the street by a passer-by, a smile from a face that might be a friend indeed.

Over the years we spread further apart, not always in distance but in time,

When you see them take a closer look as they are no longer whom they were back then.

Keith Garrett

WHEN YOU DON’T REMEMBER ME

Life can change in a single second, altering lives forever,

One thing happens and a chain of events moves far beyond.

We have a most powerful and amazing gift, it is the brain,

This is a mechanism that is at the same time most fragile.

In the blink of an eye everything we know can be unknown,

An accident, so fast to be struck with trauma to our minds.

Our time may be over and we don’t even know what’s happened,

We die that fast or even worse that we live without knowing.

Not enough understanding of the simple thoughts that hide,

A love that can remember almost everything but you are not there.

When you don’t remember me as you did only a moment ago,

I remember all things for you, we are now strangers,

We have a choice, you’re alive and we can together start over.

Keith Garrett

WHEN SLEEP DOES NOT VISIT

Suddenly as fast as I visit sleep then awake do I to the late night,

Not a pleasant adventure as tired is my mind, body, and eyes.

Stories are told by me, seen over and over as I lay there awake,

Television shows In detail, memories played repeatedly,

Thoughts of the day, thoughts of many yesterdays come to mind.

Good or bad, I can’t sleep as my brain try’s to figure out and

Understand that which can’t be ever changed, endless headache.

When sleep does not visit there Is no clue to what wanders the mind,

Why these life experiences keep me searching for answers always.

When sleep does not visit me then I must turn to fantasy for sleep.

Keith Garrett

WHEN SHE’S NOT THERE

When she’s not there I sit quietly alone in my chair,

A drink in my hand, roamin’ ’round my home.

Turn the t.v. on, nothin’ much to watch,

Open the refrigerator door, stare a little more.

Dishes in the sink, wash em’ while I think,

Go n’ take a shower, soap n’ a little water.

When she’s not there, I think I can hear her everywhere,

Talkin’ on the phone, singin’ a country song.

Whistlin’ for the birds, sayin’ a bunch of words,

When she’s not there, I work out n’ the yard,

I sometimes look ’round, she’s nowhere to be found.

I put the laundry in, the sun is slowly goin’ down,

She usually makes me a drink, my woman’s nowhere ’round.

It’s gettin’ kinda’ late, no dinner on the stove,

I don’t appreciate when she’s not at home.

When it’s time for bed, when she’s not there,

I sleep all alone, where did that woman go.

Keith Garrett

WHEN I WRITE

Close your eyes and see If a picture comes to mind,

A thought about something seen out in the world.

Could It be possibly a scent In the air that holds a memory,

Tasting a favorite food that reminds one of a place in time.

When I write there are many possibilities that come to life,

I might just close my eyes for a moment and breathe.

A title appears In my mind, words from feelings arrive,

Inspiration comes from different things that are explored.

When I write day or night the world belongs to me,

Whatever I write when I write Is share for you to read.

Keith Garrett

WHAT’S WITHIN MYSELF

I’m beginning to understand and to see,

The good that is inside this person that’s me.

There are many things about which I care,

About where I’m headed in a land of uncertainty.

Within me lies a man of strength,

Just a moment of weakness has taken from me.

A smile lives beneath, sometimes far down,

On the surface pain hidden behind the act of a clown.

What’s within myself a small boy trying to find,

A man who may survive in today’s state of mind.

What’s within myself is a hope for a better tomorrow.

Keith Garrett

WHAT’S OUT THERE?

Take a look up in the air, beyond the clouds, high above the blue,

If you can’t see that far then put to use your great Imagination.

What’s out there where we have never been, never seen or dreamed,

The moon stands out in the sky, the sun taken for granted as we assume it will be there.

With the naked eye Venus and Mars are seen every clear, beautiful night,

Every so often the night shows us a shooting star traveling across the universe.

There are many mysterious and unknown things not yet discovered through the cosmos,

Comets we can’ not put a number to or even imagine how far away they soar in the darkness.

Why is it that the sun lights up our days with warmth but gives no light to a spectacular sight,

We can only breathe the air up so high, beyond that tell me why the air of life is nowhere to be found.

Billions of stars appear to rest right before our searching eyes in the night, touch we can not,

How far if we traveled would these things be seen, would we live so long to even dream.

What’s out there? in how many directions may we go to find all the answers to be known,

Will the universe continue forever, will we learn all as we travel one day to heaven.

Keith Garrett

WHAT SCREWS UP A MIND

Marijuana is smoked in a joint or pipe,

The feeling it gives is hard to describe.

Cocaine taken through a straw up your nose,

Speed or crack will take over your life.

Heroin with a needle, shot in the arm,

Destroy what’s inside, take away your life.

What screws up a mind is slow suicide,

Acid and pills, how can you survive.

What screws up a mind is a weakness

That one cannot hide,

Running from reality, how long can you stay alive.

Keith Garrett

WHAT LIVES IN A POEM?

A poem is beautiful, It can be anything that you wish it to be,

What lives in a poem,? Imagination of the wondering mind.

It can take you away, a vacation of choice to anywhere out there,

A dream that lives inside, written words that greatly describe.

What lives in a poem are the memories you carry around always,

Sad happenings of realistic times, happy, wonderful things that define.

Your thoughts and all that makes you whom you are,

To write, to make that what lives in a poem come alive.

What lives in a poem can be any place you want to be,

You can go anywhere, write a fantasy life or live in a dream.

What lives in a poem is the real you and all that you see.

Keith Garrett