It's Time To Exercise Poem by Jim Yerman

My dad always told me imagination is like a muscle
and we have to find a way
to exercise it often or its strength will fade away.

He said imagination is like a movie inside your head
only you control the show.
You can do anything you want to do…go anywhere you want to go.

Because, he said, if you look around at all of God's creation
what sets us apart from the other animals…is our imagination.

And so he told me stories…of how he rode a dragon across the sky
of snowmen that would come alive…or whales that could fly.

Of how he would sit for hours as the wind played music in the trees
and of all the times he was invited…to go dancing with the bees.

He said he loved having scrambled eggs on a cloud for breakfast
pizza with the dolphins at noon
and a dinner of burger and fries…while sitting on the moon

He showed me how to touch the moon
He said it's really not that far
and he told me how easy it is once you're up there
to jump from star to star.

With Dad I never knew where real life ended
and where his imagination had begun…
and I wouldn't change a thing about him because that was half the fun.

He's been gone for many years now…
and I have him thank for helping me with my own aspirations
with how I look upon the world…with my imagination…

Today I'm meeting him on the moon…
I'm bringing the burgers and fries…
because just like Daddy always said…
It is time to exercise.