Seventy-five years into this life this September and I'm still trying to figure out its riddle. I'm not against aging, I'm against getting old. I've learned that the trick is to live a long time without getting old.

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE MAKE IN  OUR  LIVES
IS  THINKING WE  HAVE  TIME Success is never owned. It is only rented; and rent is due everyday.

I write poetry in an effort to heal my severe PTSD resulting from a stupid war I served in while in the USMC some 50 years ago.

I write about successes and failures in my life, joys and sorrows in my life, events that made me marvel, mostly relating to relationships and love. I write poems on how to have meaning in life, how to hurt people less and how to get hurt less.

Someday we'll meet again, In another life of course, for in this lifetime you couldn't be mine. I'll follow your trails life after life, for my soul is bound to yours..in a connection that goes beyond space and time. We will meet again.. yes my love, again and again until we become one.

I'm 75 this month and I'm still not sure why I'm still here but I do intend to live a long time without getting old.             Jon York   2023

Break all the trances and dissolve
all curses that keep you ignorant
of your own magic.

The  only  time you  should  ever
look back is to see how far you've
come.

Never  give  up. Fall  seven times,
stand  up  eight. Don't let anyone
who  hasn't  been  in  your  shoes
tell  you   how  to  tie  your  laces.

It's hard to beat a person who never
gives up. It's not over when you lose,
it's  over  when  you  quit.

If you want to be successful, prepare
to be doubted and tested. Nobody
is  going  to  hit  as  hard  as  life.

It is what it is. In the blink of an eye
everything can change. So love with
all your heart. You may not have that
chance again.                                                           ­          Jon York   2023

Life  itself  is  your  teacher  and  we are  in
a state  of  constant  learning.  Don't smile
and pretend you can't see the messy darkness.

Admit to  its presence.  Accept  its  reality. But
don't get tangled up in it either. Be kind to yourself.
Gaze into the abyss as to educate yourself about its
nature, but don't become entranced by its hypnotic
power.

Don't give up, scheme to reclaim your power from
soul-******* influences but don't turn the process
into a blood-and-thunder showdown that wreaks
epic chaos.

Don't compare, everyone is on a different journey.
You will be amazed at how much protection and
relaxation you can generate for yourself simply by
being a poised lover of life who is free of melodramatic
reactions.

I live these remaining days seemingly lost, just a soul
in this crazy beautiful world with poetry my art and
I dwell within the shadows but it is in the shadows
that I can see, being careful, calm and free.

Believe in yourself.                                                        ­   Jon York   2023

Had  I  loved  me  better,   I  wouldn't
have  been  in  most of  the  situations
I've  been  in.

I'm  not  interested  in  fighting, hating,
blaming or being petty, with  whatever
time I have  left  in  this  life.

I've been in this life for seventy-five years
as of this Sept. 20  2023,  trying to work
out its riddle and I've mastered the art of
surviving, now I want to live.

I just want to be  
happy. I want to be loved and I want
to have peace.                                                           ­                                   
                             ­                                                                 ­  Jon York   2023

You are what you believe yourself to be. The future
can be better and you have the power to make it so.
How you  do anything  is how you  do  everything.

Good is not enough if better is possible. Always trust
your instincts, they are messages from  the  soul. The
trials  you  encounter  will  introduce  you  to  your
strengths.

Very  little  is needed to  make a  happy life;  it  is all
within yourself, in your way of thinking. Every failure
is  a  stepping  stone  to  success,  every  obstacle  an
opportunity to grow.

Attract  what  you  expect,  reflect  what  you  desire,
become what you respect, mirror what you admire.
Look in the mirror...that's your competition.

Be so rooted in your being that nobody's actions can
disturb your peace.

It will seem like a long journey, the point being not
to  win, but  to  understand.  It's the  journey  rather
than  the  destination  that  will  fulfill  us.                                    
                                                                                            Jon York    2023

Getting  your  **** together  requires
a  level of honesty you can't imagine.

There's nothing easy about realizing
you're  the  one that's  been  holding
you  back  this  whole  time.

     YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE :
No  one is  going  to save  you. This
life of yours is 100% your responsibility.
No  matter  how  you  feel,  get  up,
dress up, show up, and never give up.

If  you're  searching  for  that  one
person that can change your life,
take a look in the mirror.

You don't always have to tell your
side of the story.

Time will.
                                                                                               Jon York  2023

"Today is the tomorrow you worried  about
yesterday."                               Dale  Carnegie

The  universe  is  built  in such  a  way  as  to
discourage  boredom.  Just open  your  eyes
and look around you and you will never  be
bored,  I promise,  because  in  these  strange
times things are  just moving and developing
so very fast.

It seems like just the other day that I returned
home (1970) from a 13 month tour of combat
duty with the  United States Marine Corps  in
Vietnam and I  just  blinked  my  eyes and  it is
2023 and I am the father of a son and a daughter,
a grandfather of 5 beautiful grandchildren and
a great grandfather of  4 little ones.

You may underestimate the intensity of your
longing for continual transformation, but the
universe doesn't, which is why it provides you
with entertainment for your ever-shifting story
called life.

And that is why it is always revising the challenges
it sends your way, to provide your curious soul
with  a  rich variety of  unpredictable  teachings.
                                   ­                                                          Jon York   2023