When he was very young, he had an incredible imagination
boxes were pirate ships and fortresses
the backyard was a lush and verdant jungle
a forest for wild Natives
and roaming bands of rogues
Anything he touched could be made into something new and magical
His dog was the fiercest dragon
and his sisters’ doll was the Damsel in distress
and he would vault over hill and dale
climbing mighty mountains to make heroic rescues
and vanquish all foes
Kitchen chairs became tents upon the savannah
where ferocious lions prowled just beyond the light of a dancing campfire
and massive elephants tramped along the desert sands
Unbearable heat, and a mission only for the hardiest soldier
He would read by flashlight under his covers late at night
consuming books and escaping to worlds where
anything was possible, everything was possible
and magic was commonplace
As he grew slowly to his manhood, the magic slipped away
and books that filled his imagination
turned into footballs and studies
turned into dates and automobiles and mixers
and college
“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans”
A wedding day, a wife and a new job, a mortgage
late nights at the office, and bills coming faster than
blackbirds swooping onto telephone lines
and then, a baby on the way¦
Something came, something called, something whispered in his ear¦
“don’t forget, remember me? I am your imagination, and you put me
away, but you need to remember me, I am your salvation¦”
And then his son was there, eyes wide with wonder
and the man remembered
He became the black hearted Pirate, the lion on the savannah
the Arch Enemy, the Spy on a Mission to Rule the World
and turned the chairs into tents, and boxes into fortresses
and ships sailing to foreign lands on magical errands
He found his books, and read to his son
he told him his stories, he lifted him
out of the ordinary, and into the extraordinary
and gifted to him all of his magic¦
Copyright 4/2007 J.E.George
All rights reserved.
