Our Faith

Trials have knocked on our door
Yet always we’ve come through
Never truly needing more
God’s blessed us, me and you

We see the daily trials come
And face them one by one
Through faith and love we overcome
We’ve only just begun

There are promises of hope and love
If only we keep faith
True glory sent from God above
To guide us on our way

I know sometimes the road seems hard
The trials seem too much
But trust in faith will keep up guard
And bless all that we touch

As I’ve said once and again
It all will work out right
Our faith will guide us in the end
And hold us through each night

~For John

The Choice Above

The sun will rise on a new day
There’s future memories to be made
Always new reason, love, and joy
Spring’s first whisper fresh and coy

Twilights from past days have waned
The time is now to carry on
To see the mysteries and the smiles
The hidden pleasures of life’s miles

To glean new knowledge climb new walls
Respond to living’s many calls
To love with fervor live with guile
Laugh in good humor; truly smile

Time to treasure family too
To revel in just being you
Live for the joy of life and love
To know this is the choice above

By: J.D. Garrett

01-24-2008

For Mariah

Wondrous Love

This feeling flooding through my veins
It is so strong I can’t refrain
Refrain from speaking out of it
Fearsome my lack will cause it quit

It courses through me as if blood
My heart and soul are over-run
I feel my senses taking leave
Its overwhelming thought and deed

I look upon this love of fire
And feel it burning ever higher
Its embers fed by fuel not seen
Majestic force that of a dream

A heat that has a calming blaze
A wisdom that’s an insane craze
A calm that’s the eye of the storm
A passion of which comfort’s born

With freshness that of morning dew
Each day I find this love renewed
And know that only God above

Could bless me with such wondrous love

~For John

Run Away

Will you run away
With me;
Escape these bonds
So emcombering

The stresses this world
Keeps bringing;
There must be a way
To set us free

Let's run and leave
The world behind
We'll go some where they
Cannot find

Life is too short to
Spend our time
Working so hard we
Lose our mind

So, take my hand
Let's run away
There is no reason
Left to stay

Our happiness is
Kept at bay
Life's much too short
To live this way

Time

Time elapses; trepidatingly, excruciatingly
It drips from its continuum to surround us
Forcing us forward, willingly or not
Inexorably toward our future destinies

Like ants in an anthill we march forward
Unaware of the gargantuan forces surrounding us
We trudge though our days, with or without purpose
Lost in our own thoughts, oblivious

Its force absolute, but yet, perspectively variable
Individually crawling by or speeding forward
Caught up in its web we struggle forward
Or are swept unwillingly by its mach force

Invariably we are subjects to its power
Unwittingly at Time’s command
Continuously struggling against its iron will
Perpetually caught: until we run out – of time

Ode To The Computer Age

Oh, welcome to
The modern day
Where everything happens
In a technical way

Where the world beyond
Is called cyber space
And everything's viewed
Through an interface!

Where the computer is now
Our best friend
And the only one
Still there in the end

Because we never leave
The computer chair
To take a shower
Or brush our hair!

And if, God forbid,
The power goes down
We'd move to log on
From another town!

The Mind

My mind is like a flower
Thoughts blooming all about it
Like a tornado ravaging the land
Pictures fold in my mind
Reforming new shapes with different
And wonderful meanings
Dreams encompass me like
The universe about the globe
As I see the vast possibilities
Of unknown intelligence
Dancing around me
I am but a speck of dust
In the sea of reality
But within my own mind
The power is limitless
I explore its depths
With awe and wonder
And just as I reach the peak
Of the mountain that is the mind
I look up and find
That I have climbed only a boulder
That to reach the top
I must continue to climb
Continue to explore
Continue to learn

Might

I sit and contemplate in awe
The horrific actions we just saw
They tried to bring us to our knees
But we are strong, though struck with grief

So raise that flag and raise it high
In remembrance of the ones that died
Think of the thousands of lives lost
It’s they who paid the highest cost

For a vengeance born of hate and fear
A nation stands and sheds a tear
But as a nation we stand tall
To such hatred we will not fall

We rally to freedoms’ defense
We’ll not retreat to cowardice
A world gives cry in blind outrage
Against this horror without a face

So, to those that would perpetuate
This kind of violence born of hate
Know we are strong and we are proud
Before these acts we’ll not give ground

We’ll stand together, every race
For freedom does not have a face
To protect that freedom we WILL fight
Dare to test that and feel our might

My Own Mind

Pondering the loss of self
One’s hopes and dreams placed on a shelf
The sacrifices people make
The chances we’re afraid to take

The times we put out lives on hold
Give in until we’re numb and cold
The essence lost of who we are
Until our world is torn apart

Then something happens, fate kicks in
We must step back and look within
Examine where our path has lead
See who we’ve hurt and when we’ve bled

The introspective time has come
I’ve learned I can no longer run
I’m walking toward the future now
The walls within are coming down

Seek out the truth and set your goals
Determine what your future holds
Face up to fears your hiding from
To overcome you must not run

It’s time; I must rebuild myself
Determination won’t be quelled
I’m following my dreams this time
I’ve rediscovered my own mind

Perfect World

In a perfect world we all are free
No hiding who we wish to be
There are no masks or false “hellos”
We all go where we wish to go

No restraints to taint our hearts
No need to lie and keep up guards
We all are free to love and feel
Without the fear that it’s not real

In this world of which I speak
We all have the love we seek
No one is hurting and alone
We all have families we call home

When I slip into my dreams at night
It’s in this world that I reside
We all are there and finally see
The love and trust we’ve been missing

So hold my hands and come with me
There is a place that you must see
A place without an unfilled need
A place where true hearts can be free

I wish to share this world with you
The souls that my heart belongs to
It is a wonder to behold
Just take my hands, watch it unfold

Trip the Dance

Mired in the strains of days
Mores confines me in this cage
Expectations push my bounds
Limits met, essence is drowned

Labor to meet all demands
Caught up short fall to my hands
Cry in outrage at the strain
The tension too much to contain

So-called 'help' a hindrance
Up the tempo, trip the dance
Delivering the writ of ways
As feasible as endless days

Demanding superhuman might
So certain that they know my plight
As seeing as a deafened bat
Their arrogant self-eminence

Searching

A myriad of paths this
Life leads me to wonder
The endless expanses of
Time I have pondered

Searching for something
Too often just squandered
That this world has not
As yet chosen to proffer

A light that eludes the
Dark reaches of mind
And illumination of
Soul I must find

Pensively groping for
Answers, I’ve strived
Perhaps in my searching
I have become blind

Quite often when I have
Quit looking, I’ll see
The item so longed for
Is right before me

I’ve searched for so long
My will is now weak
Perchance if I cease I
Will find what I seek

Fly With Me

Fly with me
Join me in the clouds
High above the sea
We'll soar over the land
And through the trees
Through the mountain tops
Where only birds can see

Fly with me
You may hold my hand
As you hold my heart
We'll fly over the land
We'll see all the things
Only God can see
While you fly with me

Fly with me
Through this life as one
High above the sea
If you will take my hand
As you hold my heart
And just fly with me

The Storm Within

Forging through the storms of night
The desolation gives a fright
Must be a way out of the cold
No end to this storm is foretold

The warring factions: Night and Dawn
They’ve been at war eons too long
Perhaps it’s just the way of things
No calmness will the future bring

The standstill urges newfound rage
The storms begin a brand new stage
The fierceness of the cold and fire
The clouds rain down their pent up ire

The warring factions freeze me still
I struggle but I’m rooted here
The gale force winds they tug and sway
Until my limbs are ripped away

And now I’m rooted quite unwhole
The dawn cannot quite reach my soul
The lightning strikes without remorse
It burns its way right through my core

The winds they whisper: “choose just one”
“Just pick one limb and then move on”
The dawn screams: “don’t forget the catch”
”You still will bleed from the reject”

So, slowly do I bleed to death
Eternal from the wound that’s left
And then the lightning strikes again
To paralyze that one last limb

So now, it seems, I’ve lost them both
One removed, the other broke
The storm within it rages on
My chance of being whole is gone

Drought

The branch that snaps off in the breeze
The storm that carries it with ease
The tree so brittle, worn and dry
Winds decimate it each dark night

It’s been through times of drought and rain
Knowing it would bloom again
The droughts, they leave it brittle; old
The rains renew, inspire growth

In times of drought it’s hard to see
To have faith in what the future brings
Will the tree become a hollow shell?
Without the rains, its thirst to quell?

How long will this new drought last
Before the rain can see it past
The tree to soak up blessed rain
To sprout new leaves and grow again

Heart Over Mind

Sometimes the heart
Must rule the mind
Sometime the mind is wrong
Sometimes the mind says
"Give it up"
That's when the heart
Holds strong
Some people say
"Mind conquers all"
"Mind over matter"
Is their battle call
But I see it quite the other way
The heart holds true
When the mind will stray
So, when life gets a little tough
Stay true to your heart
When your minds given up

Landscape

I see a landscape in my mind
That I could travel for all time
A bit of heaven, it would seem
Went into sculpting such a dream

A sparkling blue with this land sees
A rolling motion as it breaths
Two perfect arches cap the blue
Above a bridge that’s perfect too

Sensuous crescent is below
Tented with the hue of rose
Then from there a dip and plains
Where I could lose myself for days

I know that God spent extra time
To sculpt this landscape in my mind
A land for which I live and breath
Embodying the soul I need

Giving Tree

Let me tell you ‘bout this flower
That was once sickly and blue
Just could not seem to live up to
All that life had put it through

Its petals were all wilted
Its stem a graying stalk
The sun just seemed to miss it
Nor did it get raindrops

All of the other flowers
They seemed to shy away
‘Cause none of them quite understood
Why it was blue and gray

One day a tree was planted
It rose above them all
Reflected down the sunlight
Let flow drops of rainfall

And do you know that flower
That was so blue and gray
Grew strong and bright and vibrant
Since that tree came its way

My love, I am that flower
You are the giving tree
Before you I was dying
Your love and strength saved me

I Understand Now

I understand now, it was You
The One that my soul belongs to
I thought I knew but could not see
Just what it meant for You to bleed

I’ve heard the words, I’ve read Your voice
Sometimes it takes more than just choice
To SEE it, is to truly know
Now I can’t help but feel it SO

Oh, how You suffered, how You bled
Such painful steps You slowly tread
I cry for how You suffered now
To be Your child, I am proud

But shamed to know I shed Your blood
Not just in droplets but a flood
For I’m as guilty as are they
So many times I, too, have strayed

Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned
My thoughts betrayed you deep within
Sometimes it’s just so hard to see
You truly shed your blood for me

Distant Land

Gentle waves ripple softly

Crest and break against me

Enveloping me

In their warm embrace

A slight breeze of uncertainty

Sends shivers up my spine

A moments lapse

In the warm tide

Allowing the breeze it’s touch

Quickly the wind of uncertainty

Passes…

Again I am drawn into the waves

Softly held in their grasp

Comforted by their warmth

The newness of the waters

From a far Sea

Beckoning to me

Ever so sweetly

Drawing me out

Teaching me the wonders

Of a distant land

Needs

I need somebody here by me
I need a love that I can see
I need a lover I can touch
I'm not asking all that much

I need to make some sacrifice
Will the result be worth the price?
I need to take some course of action
One both heart and mind can fathom

I need a fountain for my tears
A bucket to contain my fears
I need someone to make me smile
Someone to go that extra mile

I need your body against mine
A lovers touch sweet and divine
I need someone who can be true
But, mostly, what I need is you

Morning Cartoons

Little footsteps

Down the hall

Wake us at the

Break of dawn

At the timid knock

You say "come in"

And you have to smile

At her morning grin

"Daddy, can I come

Lay by you?"

You grumble a bit

But you always make room

I turn the TV on

To morning cartoons

And blow you both kisses

As I leave the room

Sun's Embrace

See the flowers, see the trees
Feel the grass beneath my feet
Feel the warm sun on my face
Scent of wind is filled with grace

Softness of it's sweet caress
It's tenderness I'll not forget
Knowing that this Spring will last
Circumventing my torn past

The warmth of this sun will not fade
Forever I'll bathe in it's rays
Judge me not it's warmth is sweet
Enfolding warmth that brings me peace

Light laughter I glean from it's rays
Here I could live for all my days
Knowing it's warmth will never leave
It fills my heart, my soul, my needs

I smile upon it's sweet face
And know I've finally found my place
Enfolded in it's warming rays
It's here I'll stay for all my days

~For John

Total Synchronicity

Total synchronicity
We mold as one so perfectly
As if we were two halves of one
Union that cannot be outdone

You always know just what to say
How do you read my soul that way?
Know just when something’s on my mind
Always care to take the time

An iron will that will not yield
Such power over me you wield
A look that puts me in a trance
A touch too sweet to be just chance

You always know just what to do
To grip my heart and soul clear through
So thoughtful in your word and deed
Fulfill my every want or need

That the fates brought me to you
Something I ponder through and through
All I know is that when you’re with me
It’s total synchronicity

~ For John...

I Understand Now

I understand now, it was You
The One that my soul belongs to
I thought I knew but could not see
Just what it meant for You to bleed

I’ve heard the words, I’ve read Your voice
Sometimes it takes more than just choice
To SEE it, is to truly know
Now I can’t help but feel it SO

Oh, how You suffered, how You bled
Such painful steps You slowly tread
I cry for how You suffered now
To be Your child, I am proud

But shamed to know I shed Your blood
Not just in droplets but a flood
For I’m as guilty as are they
So many times I, too, have strayed

Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned
My thoughts betrayed you deep within
Sometimes it’s just so hard to see
You truly shed your blood for me

Strife to Rest

Please, God, put my strife to rest
Stop putting this child to the test
Have I not struggled enough to see
My way into eternity?

How long must I fight this battle?
Each day a new one; I can’t fathom
Why must I endure each new day?
Why must my life be spent this way?

So many out there smile free
Their lives as careless as could be
Why must I struggle to go on?
I get so tired of being strong

I just want some time free of pain
To show this life is not in vain
To spend some time happy; content
Without, on pain, energy spent

Please, God, put my strife to rest
I’ve grown so tired of the test
Please, God, won’t you set me free?
Free from all this misery