An Exercise In My Mind Poem by Jim Yerman

I have this exercise I do…it's an exercise in my mind…
I do it whenever I feel I'm losing may ability to be kind.

I simply look around me from the ground to the sky above
and I begin to list in my life…all the things there are to love.

I love my wife, my children, my grandchildren…
looking at old photographs.
I love watching people holding hands and anytime a baby laughs.

I love the moon, the stars, the clouds, the sun that hover in the sky
I love ice cream, cake and cookies…
I love peach cobbler, and apple pie.

I love animals that fly, run, swim, slither, crawl or hop around
I love animals that are loud…and those that never make a sound.

I love insects…ladybugs and moths…butterflies and bees.
I love all the different flowers and any kind of tree.

I love a hot summer day and a snow white winter freeze
I love the oceans and the mountains…the rivers and the seas.

I love drinking water, root beer and an occasional sweet iced tea.
I love watching cooking shows, British mysteries and reruns on TV.

I love to laugh sometimes so hard I shake from my shoulders to my belly.
I love picnics…eating sandwiches made with peanut butter and jelly.

I never get to finish my list because by this time in my mind…
I've already forgotten what it was that made me feel unkind..