In French you don't say
"I  miss  you".   You say
"tu me manques", which
means "you are missing
from me."
I love that.

Do  what  makes  your
soul shine. Take time to
make  your soul  happy.
Put yourself at the top
of  your  to-do  list.

Sometimes I amaze myself.
Other times I can't remember
what day it is.

Be brave
Be kind
Be happy
Be creative
Be thankful
Be you.                                                                                Jon York   2024

"Kama muta" is Sanskrit term that refers
to an emotion  that might also  be  called
"moved by love."

It  is an under-recognized emotion that  has
evolved to bind us to others and strengthen
our relationships. It motivates us to embrace
and care for other people.

Kama muta enhances  our  commitment  to
our relationships and encourages  us to  act
with greater compassion and kindness.

We usually experience  it in some of the most
important events in our lives - and it is commonly
exploited by writers to enhance  the  emotional
impact of their stories.

You are  another  me.  If  I do  harm to  you,
I  harm  myself.  If  I  love  and respect  you,
I  love  and  respect  myself.
                                                                                           Jon York   2024

She walked through the door, her head looking down, perhaps scared to look at me for fear of what she may see. When in reality she was just scared of our first meeting in over 50 years, a length
of time that would bring anyone to tears.

I looked at her as she trembled and I said, "do you know why after all of this time I am still here?" "Because when love is true, it waits and as we slipped into an intimacy from which we never recovered, I said "guide me home, for you are the moon of my life, guide me home." "Let us make quiet love, soft sighed and slow stirred; glancing glazes and graceful gasps." "Swallow your loudest screams and yell instead with squeezing hands."

Some souls choose to wear their hearts on their sleeves, but I, brave or stupid or maybe both have chosen instead to wear mine on yours. Her love. . .simple, uninhibited, child like, spontaneous, filled with touching, poetry. She never grew up. .thank God!

Like a hummingbird in flight, always looking for a place to rest for the night, as she is weary from her travels afar and with natures careful planning she will touch the flowers of your soul, then wait for understanding'
                                                  ­                                     Jon York   2024

In  1964,  60 years ago,  I  was  16
and she was 14. Two souls searching
the universe  and when we met,  the
searching was over.

And I still think about her and those
crazy days together, her young skin
on my fingertips, her young  lips  on
mine.

But the Vietnam war turned my world
upside down and I would never be the
same.  

As I turn 76 today I go into the depths
of night to find my voice - thoughts forming
into feelings, then words on paper.

A poet navigating a tainted world.

When  you cannot  control  what's
happening, challenge yourself to control
the way you respond to what's happening.
That is where your power is.  

I write to capture fleeting moments, to fight
the PTSD in my head from a war, to capture
memories of young love and deep desires.
                                                                                             Jon York   2024

I  have  good days and  bad  days.
And on both I am thinking of you.

Yes, I am thinking about you right
now.  I  thought about  when  this
morning when I woke up....Lovely
perverted, naughty and wickedly
beautiful thoughts.

My hands can't touch you, but my
mind  can't  leave  you  alone.

When I close  my  eyes I see you.
When I open my eyes I miss you.

I  never  craved  attention  until I
tasted yours.

Can  you  feel  me  when  I  think
about you?
                                                            ­                                Jon York   2024

Missing you comes in waves.
Tonight  I am  drowning.

I love it when I check my phone
and your name with a picture of
you  in  your bathtub shows  up
and I love how your text message
says  to me "I  love  your  poetry,
never stop writing."

I love the feelings I get when I
look at my photographs of you.
One  of  your  hugs  would  be
good right now.

I crave you in the most innocent
form. I  crave to say "goodnight"
and kiss you on the forehead and
say "I adore you" when you feel
at you worst.

I crave you  in  ways where I  just
want to be next to you and nothing
more or less.
                                                                                             Jon York   2024

Sometimes the best memories
sneak out of my eyes disguised
as tears.

I am remembering some of the
most beautiful moments of my
younger  life that  weren't  just
with you  but  because  of  you.

No matter how broken we think
we are, we will always be a piece
in someone else's puzzle of life.

We'll fill all of their cracks with
love and fragments of our own
heart.

Our lives may not have fit together
but ohhh...did our souls know how
to dance....

I fell in love with the way you
touched me without using your
hands.

I hunger for your kiss, the feel
of  your  soul  touching  mine.
                                                      ­                                       Jon York   2024