embrace me

drizzle syrupy whispers in my ear
press powdered lips to the back of my neck

your candy shell around my creamy center,
our licorice legs twirl together,

drift to sleep on egyptian cotton candy


I can't sleep

but I'm not sugar high
when we kiss I taste aspartame

sweet, but artificial
still, so close to the real thing

or maybe I just can’t tell the difference?

It's 11:11
and for the first time
after a very long time
I'm wishing for myself
and not for you

Would it matter,
if I told you,
         I still love you,
         I still need you,

I still look for you -----
         even as the shadows
                    climb the hills
and the new moon
                    hears the howls
                    of distant dogs
somewhere down this
             lonely Kansas road,
where the wind blows songs
        through the green pine
and the memories of you
                    still haven't left
                                my mind.

No, it would't matter one
               bit ,not in the least.

That's just the way it is.
                                                             ­                 Jon York   2021

A bird without wings
But still can fly
A boy without eyes
But still can cry

A girl with no voice
But still can sing
A man with no ears
But still can hear the bell ring

A bride with no groom
Still has her wedding
A man with no crown
Still can be a king

An artist with no pen
Still can draw
An author with no story
Still stands tall

You can be the hero,
Can be all of these things,
Everything is possible,
If you just believe.

I look at someone else's poem
And I see flawlessness.
I look at my own
And I see nothing but flaws.
I write poetry to get away from the bad feelings.
Not to make more.
And it's hard.
Everything is hard.
I've become hard.
Hardened to the beauty of the world.
Hardened to the beauty of poetry.
All I can focus on is my own writing
As I try to be as good
As you.

We have mined our mountains,
we have fished our seas,
we have felled our forests,
we have gathered our grains,
but we have not yet embraced
the infinite energy of our souls,
which is love.

Tod Howard Hawks