I heard a cry in the night,
A thousand miles it came,
Sharp as a flash of light,
My name, my name!

It was your voice I heard,
You waked and loved me so—
I send you back this word,
I know, I know!

So many words looking for a home
or just a page to rest upon
or a rhyme to complete or a poem
that they can call home
as they look forward to the beauty
of the next moment or the next hour
and as they sink roots
into the present
their strength grows
as they think about
tomorrow.

Sometimes the world is just
too loud for these ears
that sometimes hear words
that don't need to be said
and stories that don't
need to be told
along with lies that others
thought that they
could hide.

Some things  aren't meant
to be heard and upon hearing
these things it sometimes
makes me wish
that I was deaf to
the world.

I would
rather give up
hearing those sweet
sounds like those
that lovers make
in the pre-dawn hours
of the night than
to be assaulted
by things that I never
wanted to hear.

As the world goes by
I stand before it
smiling and loving because
I have laid naked and bared my soul
and quenched my dreams
and lost my pride
beside so many
while deep inside
always true.

Again I rise out of the ashes
ready to face the world again
enslaved by poetry
and reading endless poems
and writing happy ever afters
about true love
and the one.

When I am done
I am brought back to the real world
of disappointments and cheaters
but know that if I seek
not outside that I will find
that heaven is within.

This time I found love
and my own heaven
that is here to stay
and that is all that
I need to say.

Know the value of love
and don't be tormented
by things out of your control
and know that people
will forget what you said
and forget what you did
but will never forget
how you made
them feel.
                                             Jon  York       2013

Warmed by her hand and shadowed by her hair
As close she leaned and poured her heart through thee,
Whereof the articulate throbs accompany
The smooth black stream that makes thy whiteness fair,—
Sweet fluttering sheet, even of her breath aware,—
Oh let thy silent song disclose to me
That soul wherewith her lips and eyes agree
Like married music in Love’s answering air.

Fain had I watched her when, at some fond thought,
Her ***** to the writing closelier press’d,
And her breast’s secrets peered into her breast;
When, through eyes raised an instant, her soul sought
My soul, and from the sudden confluence caught
The words that made her love the loveliest.

I do not need a cigarette in my hand
A flat stomach
An eyebrow piercing
An infinite knowledge of Socrates.

I do not need
A quick-witted tongue
To be easy to please, short in stature, soft spoken, impatient.

I do not need
A fondness of antiques
The latest car
26 pairs of shoes
Diamond earrings,
To be passive,
To be alluring and enticing and likable, noticeable, noteworthy, appealing or interesting.

I need my heart. If my heart does not allure or compel you to see if I really do have 26 pairs or shoes or if I really am a smoker, if I am passive and soft spoken, if I am tall or short, then I am not compelling enough. My heart should be what catches your attention and what makes you stay.

My heart overrides all else when looking at my worth; my 26 pairs of shoes will not comfort you, but my heart will. Therefore, look at someones heart. That is where you will truly find someone rather in who they are than what they are.

It was many and many a year ago,
  In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
  By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
  Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
  In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
  I and my ANNABEL LEE;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
  Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
  In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
  My beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
  And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
  In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
  Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
  In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
  Chilling and killing my ANNABEL LEE.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
  Of those who were older than we—
  Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in heaven above,
  Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
  Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
  In her sepulchre there by the sea—
  In her tomb by the side of the sea.