I  write songs without a  tune,
I'm a story teller, stories based
on my life's strange and weird
happenings and events that I
can't forget. I write of odd and
out of place interactions with
seemingly unreal people.

I write about the news, sometimes
about my feelings, my various
loves and lovers,and sometimes I
just write, not knowing where
my  words are coming from,
almost as if someone was using
me as a tool, writing through me.

Be  a  fighter, get  up and  dust
yourself off for life isn't a fairy tale,
there is no knight in shining armor
who will ride in and save the day.

Be  your own  hero, learn  to walk
alone because all the so-called knights
are busy polishing their own armor.                             Jon York  2022

The Sun will rise every day
and the moon will follow its course.

Let your shadow move where it will,
its magnitude decided by the Sun.

May you never be the reason why
someone who loved to sing, doesn't anymore.
Or someone who dressed so uniquely, now
wears plain clothing. Or why someone
who always spoke so excitedly about their dreams,
is now silent about them.

May you never be the reason someone gave up
on a part of themselves because you were
demotivating, non-appreciative, hypercritical,
or even worse - sarcastic about it.

Do not relentlessly try to understand.
Time itself will decide.
I will not be sad. It has been written for me.
My joy will come when it is time.
                                                                                             Jon York  2021

Whether  love  blooms  gradually,
or hits like a tidal wave, it changes
everything.

Being  one  of  the  most  powerful
energies in the world; love drives us
forward; gives us purpose; and adds
meaning where it sometimes seemed
none existed.

In its extremes it is either a fountain
of the most soaring euphoria and ecstasy:
or, where it is lost, blocked, or turned
away, a bottomless well of despair, pain
and profound despondency.

In between the extremes are the smaller
moments,  laughter  shared,  tears  shed
and wiped away, fears soothed.

It is no wonder that painters and writers
such  as  myself and those  through time
have looked to this all-pervading emotion
for the motivation and object of our art.

The refusal by faithful lovers to allow distance,
disapproval, or even death to affect their feelings
can sometimes seem like fanaticism or obsession,
but in the very stubbornness of the declarations
of undying love there is consolation, satisfaction,
and immense beauty.
                                                         ­                                     Jon York  2021

I  hope  everyone  reading  my
words  is  having  a really good  
day, and if you aren't, just know
that  in  every new minute  that  
passes  you  have the opportunity
to change that, and if  you have  
enemies,  it  means you have stood
up for  something,  sometime in
your life.

Vivid colors fill the sky, a chill
runs up my spine, my eyes are
entranced, for it seems like
someone spilled paint across
the sky. Then the colors of the
sky fade and a darkness fills
the empty space. Bright lights
flicker above as the moon tranquilly
floats through the night.
Another beautiful day gone away
and I just felt like writing a poem
about it.

No lovers , no broken hearts in
this write, just a feel good about
the day poem.                                                            ­     Jon York  2021

Her blue eyes
like the changing sea.
    Her blond hair
soft as a rose petal.

    Her childish grin
hides her crazy and
    evil ways.

    Her laughter,
unique with no rhythm,
as if she was calm, sweet,
    and innocent.

    Standing there
staring with fire in my
eyes I grabbed her close
with a passionate kiss
holding on to her like I
was never going to
    let her go.

    And then I wake up
remembering this so
    real dream.                                                                    Jon York    2021

In six days I will turn 73.
When I was young, a little boy,
I always thought 40 was old.

When I was 40 years old,
I thought 80 was old.

Now I'm 72, I still like to rock
and roll every night and
listening to classic rock is one
of my favorite pastimes.

Nursing homes I will never go,
because I'm smart as a whip,
not thoughtless and old.

People treat me very strange,
as if I'm dying or deranged.

But I'm just fine,
now that I'm approaching 80 and
thought of as old.

I just laugh and think,
wait until they're 80 years old.                                       Jon York    2021

When I was a young boy, growing up in the
middle  of  Oklahoma, I  believed that  there
was right or wrong;  good or bad;  yes or no;
black or white.

It  was easy to  think that way.  How clever I
thought I was, to be so enlightened and decisive,
to have an opinion on everything and to think
I  was right. I wish  I didn't know now what  I
didn't know then.  

As I grew older I realized that sometimes there
is no right or wrong. That some situations have
no good outcome or happy ending. That the answer
can be both yes and no and that manifold factors
must be considered, and that some questions
have no answers.

I don't feel quite so clever anymore, but perhaps
grown wiser since I realized that life operates in
shades of grey and no one really knows the right
way. We all just have to keep going day to day,
doing what we feel is right.
                                                                                          Jon York   2031