Whatever  else  we  might  think
of this world -- it  is  astonishing.

You  may be surprised to find out
how much more there is to learn
about  what  really  moves  you.

Turning to  face my  fears, I  meet
the warrior  who lives  within me.  

Each condition I flee from pursues
me, each condition that I welcome
transforms  me  and becomes itself  
transformed  into  the  blessing  it
always was.

Sip  the  tears of someone you love.

"The man who has no imagination
has  no  wings."   Muhammad Ali

                                                            ­                                  Jon York  2022

I am a subversive mystic stoking the cool
blue  fires of poetry and lobbying for  the
liberated imagination.

"Success  is  not  final, failure  is  not  fatal:
it  is  the courage  to continue  that counts."
Winston Churchill

If  it's  not  intimate,  what's  the  point?

I  write  as an  outlet  to make  sense of  my
world and experiences.

If  not  to fight against the monsters  inside
us, why  do  we  write?

For a poet, there really is no such thing as
the  ordinary  world,  "ordinary  life",  and
the ordinary course of events.
                                                                                     Jon York 2022

Let your process of being you
help others in their process of
being themselves.

Learn to  like living and know
that just to be alive  is a  grand
thing.

Love  to love, love  to  be loved
but  never  forget  your  own
insignificance.

Seek joy  in the saddest  places,
and  pursue  beauty to  its  lair.

Never simplify what is complicated
or  complicate  what  is  simple.
                                                                                                 Jon York   2022

Writers   just  write   the  words.

Readers  decide what  the words
mean and how they are  affected
by those words  and if the poem
is about them or directed to them
personally.

Events  and  or  interactions  with
various people are the basis for my
writing.

I am just trying to leave something
behind.
                                                                                              Jon York   2022

It's  a  hard time  to  be  human.
We know too much and too little.

Exaggerate  your flaws until  they
turn  into  virtues.

I wouldn't be surprised if poetry
-- poetry  in  the  broadest  sense,
in the sense  of a world filled with
metaphor, rhyme,  and recurring
patterns,  shapes, and designs -- is
how the world works,. The world
isn't  logical,  it's  a  song.

I  go  where  my  words  take  me.
I  write  for  my  own  amusement
but my ink comes from  the  heart
and sometimes a dark mind.

I wouldn't say I'm an inexperienced
poet, but  staying  in  the  lines  has
never been one of my strong points.
                                                                                              Jon York  2022

Sometimes at night I can taste her
on my lips. Passion; strong coffee
and warm, soft kisses.

It fades quickly, like the lingering
of a delicate perfume in an  empty
room and I  miss it  when  it  goes,
but  I'm  just too tired  to  chase  it.

So elusive she is, so lovely, but the
quiet  madness of it  all leaves  me
breathless.

Enter  each  day expecting  that the
happenings of the day may contain
a clandestine message addressed to
you personally.
                                                                                          Jon York   2022

Pretend to be crazy so you can get away  
with  doing  what's  right.

Remove yourself from situations where
you have trouble being and feeling your
true self.

Decrease your connection with anything
that tends to demean  your spirit, shrink
your lust  for life , limit  your  freedom,
ignore  your  soul,  compromise  your
integrity,  inhibit your self-expressiveness.

Love  your enemies in case  your  friends
turn out to be jerks.

Whoever  you're  longing  for has  been
changed by your pursuit of them. They are
different from what they were when  you
felt the first pangs of desire.

To make them yours, then, you'll have to
modify  your  ideas  about  them.

Be careful what you wish for because if your
wish does materialize, it will require you to
change in ways you didn't foresee.

Give yourself another chance, pretend your
wounds are exotic tatoos.                                              Jon York   2022