I REMEMBER JACK


  He was a wanderer, a young man seeking peace,


  War tears many families apart, a mystery was Jack.


  Appeared did he on a roadside one day, I did change,


 Something strange about a man who came from the past.


  I remember a man named Jack who granted me a wish,


  I did not make that wish and Jack had to go far away,


  He made it for me as I saw him again one day.


 A much older me, I did not know happiness was for me,


  Jack died in nineteen forty four, long before I was born.

           Keith Garrett

                                    I AM A BEE!


  In the Spring and Summer, you'll find me around,


  Even In the Fall, I am found.


  Flying and buzzing, Is not the only thing that I do,


  My love for making honey, Is so very true.


  My quest Is not to sting, though my reputation Is this,


  Just like you, to survive and be left alone Is my wish.


  Many cousins,' to me In this world,


  Different are they, this I will say.


  They all slap at me, run away, and scream,


  If only I could laugh, then they would hear me.


  What frightens' them, I'm so small you see,


   I'm tiny, I'm fragile, I'm only a bee.


                                   Keith Garrett                               

                  FROM OUT OF MY WINDOW


 I gazed outside, at a bird on a limb,


 So many clouds, made my light very dim.


 The things I see, are not so new,


  From out of my window, a simple view.


  I stand here watching, as time goes by,


  I listen for the sound, I can hear nature cry.


  The wind passes by, through the trees It blows,


  Stare out at the night, watch as the moon glows.


  As day becomes night, and the night turns to day,


 Time does not stand still, but from out of my window,


  I see things my own way.


                                           Keith Garrett

                              A BOY NAMED PAUL


  I knew a boy, by the name of Paul,

  He went away, late Summer or Fall.

 When he was little, he played in the snow,

 These things I remember, from long ago.

 I think of the smile, he had on his face,

 It fades from my memory, yet there's still a trace.

 When I think of him, it reminds me,

  Of just how fragile, this life can be.

  It makes me feel special, for he came to me,

  Just a short time, before life set him free.

  There was a boy, by the name of Paul,

  He laughed and played, but that's not all.

  He had a life, of which I speak,

  Cut too short, it did not reach its peak.

  I'll think of him, as you do,

 A soul in heaven, a part of you.

 For his mother, Father, and Sister.


                    Keith Garrett

                                      A PICTURE OF YOU


  Plenty of times I saw you, watched as you changed,


  A portrait of a baby, many years ago as time has aged it,


  As a child, you appeared a certain way, young at play.


  From twelve to seventeen, a face that went different ways,


  Twenty was a special year, your first child, a boy named Gary.


  Seven children as the years went by, your picture changed,


  Beyond eighteen or twenty five, seasons changed in your eyes.


  Mom! I miss you, I think I can hear you when I sleep in the 
  the night,

  A picture of you rests in my sight, a picture of you in a book 
  That I write.

                                     Keith Garrett
     My mom, 1939- 2019

                                          A HEARTBEAT



  Listen to my heartbeat, thump, thump, It beats,



  Blood runs through it, listen to me as I breathe.



  A heartbeat means life, It beats fast or slow, 



  Thump, thump, it goes, a heartbeat that slowly 
  Grows old.


  It speaks of who I am, only one of a kind,



  Listen, thump, thump, with a hand to my chest, feel 
  As I am alive.


  A heartbeat lets us know that this moment is still ours,



  Hear it pound, listen to its beautiful sound.



  Thump, thump, thump, thump, one beat at a time,



  A heartbeat so precious, thump as it beats one more time.


                                         Keith Garrett

                              THE PIED PIPER


  Within the hills one day, It was that I did hear 
  The Piper play,


  Hiding in the grass so deep, witnessed did I, magic
  We would need.


  Music of the piper echoed within ears that could 
  Not hear,


  People from a town called Hamelin had so much 
  To fear.


  This piper, dressed in colorful attire, robe and hat, a
  Musical pipe,


  A deal he made with a council, to rid Hamelin of a 
  Mass of rats.


  With musical notes they were lead to the river of death.



  When they went back on their word and did not pay,



  This mysterious, magical piper took all the children away,



  When the time came that they agreed to pay, the pied piper 



             Never again came to stay.

              Keith Garrett

                                   SURROUNDING ME


  I"m here, blind at times to what's around me, waiting 
  For myself to see,

  Sitting here at this moment, quiet with no soul to keep 
  Me company.

  Feeling lonely, but as I turn my eyes to this world, notice 
  Do I something,

  There's much life watching me, I never listen but now 
  I can hear,

  As what's surrounding me Is telling me something, It's 
  Talking to me.

  There stands a tree, Its' branches swinging In the wind 
  Like arms,

  Leaves falling to the ground, nature brings It to life as I 
  Hear the sound.

  The grass dances, as a breeze travels on by, singing as It 
  Says goodbye,

  When I sit upon It, a feeling It has as also this friend of 
  Green feels me.

  On a shrub, a bird sits and whistles In the sun,


  Saying hello to It, as away In the sky, this bird flies.


 There are bees buzzing around flowers of many colors 
  And fragrances,

 They leave me alone, I'm not alone,


  What I want may not be, a little less lonely with what's 
  Surrounding.

                                    Keith Garrett 

                                PAGES


  My life starts' out like a book, not yet a cover,



  Nothing Inside, page one still not printed.



  My story constantly being written with every breath,



  How many pages there will be, not known till the end.



  This title was Imagined before my creation,



  Cover to cover Is mine to write as I walk my life.



  With each turning page, I Illustrate my own time,



  The one before this, just a memory In my mind.



  Stay open It does, until my story Is told,



  Until I've been published, this mans' book will not 
  Be closed.

                                          Keith Garrett  

                   "FROM A LONG TIME AGO"


  I lived lifetimes ago on farmland worked with hands, 
  A man's hands,
  A family we were, my wife, children, and animals for pets, 
  Back in time.
  Possibly I went by the name of Sam, a man of principles, 
  Of beliefs,
  My children may have been raised to believe In the Lord, 
  To respect.
  If a wife I did have then she might have been a beautiful 
  Woman,
  She would have been a great cook, a fine and decent person.

  Imagine there would have been much love In our home,

  Working hard from sunrise till sunset would have been 
  This family.
  Friends' and neighbors' with names now vanished Into a
  Memory,
  A town that may have existed but no longer alive, a long 
  Time ago.
  I may have been known as Sam from a long time ago,
  Maybe so,
  Land I may have owned and worked my fingers to the bone.

  It's possible this man of beliefs had a family that he loved so
  Much,
  I could have had children of which grew up and had families 
  Too.
  To a man named Sam who may have lived a long time ago,

  Who may have lived with a loving wife, children, and had 
  Many
   caring good friends', If I had known you from a long time ago.


                                   Keith Garrett