If I had known how many weeks
      would come and go
'Ere I again should see you
      would I have acted so.

Would I have read the future
and known what was to be---
I wouldn't have hurt you darling
had all the world been given to me.

For I dream of you at night, dear----
and think of you all day---
I was cross when I was with you
because--- that was my way.

We always treat our dear ones
  the ones we love the best
just a trifle colder
than we ever treat the rest.

Sort o' lonesome, sort O blue
sort o' pinin  just for you
sort o' wishing for a way
I could be with you today
sort o' wondering if you know
just how much I'm missing you
thought I'd tell you just what is what
I'm missing you an awful lot.

The clouds were forming pictures
That only I could see
and in my album
was one of you and me
you had bent to kiss me
and you were about to say
that you would always, always
----- and then the wind blew
them away.

             Too Late
If I could go back o'er my days
and trace my steps through all the ways
I think the first thing I would do
would be to find my way to you
and seek to take from out your heart
the pain for which the greatest part
I was to blame.
                                                               Jon York 2017


'

If the plan
    doesn't
     work,
   change
  the plan
  but never
  the goal
     and
     don't
     stop
     until
    you're
    proud.

      Feel
      the
   fear and
     do it
   anyway.

        If
  you can't
     beat
     fear
    do it
   scared.
                                                                                        Jon York   2019

When we touch,
                      it as if a
            whole  new  world
                  of galaxies
       opens up and the universe
           conspires, the stars
       approve and the moon stops
              hiding long enough
                 to peer at us
       from above, and for the first
        time,  finally,  something
             feels right and now
       when I look at you I see my
                   whole world
           and  my  favorite  place
                 isn't  four  walls,
                    my favorite
               place  is  the feeling
       I  get  when  I'm  with  you
               and I don't know
        where  I'm  going  to  be
             five years from now,
               but I pray that it's
       somewhere with a beautiful
                     view and
                  next  to  you.
                                                                           Jon York   2019

"I  like  living.  I have been  wildly,  despairingly,  acutely
miserable,  racked with sorrow; but through  it  all  I  still
know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."  
                                                                          Agatha Christie

As  humans  we  need  regular doses of  unreasonable  beauty,
sublime anomalies, beguiling ephemera, and inexplicable joys.

I  chose  to  be  optimistic,  it  feels  better.  I choose also  to  be
truthful, gentle, and fearless.

Time is really the  only capital that  I or any human being  has,
and it is the only thing we can't afford to lose. Let your choices
reflect your hopes, not your fears.

The past is where we  learn the lesson. The future is where we
apply the lesson.

It is only a short trip. Enjoy it. You are not what you have done,
you are what you have overcome.
                                                       ­                                      Jon York   2024

I am your poet,
          you are my poetry.

         You  are   my
         daydream, I am
         your reason to dream.  

          I am your escape,
         you are my wings.

           I am your refuge,
          you are my storm.

          We are the remedy
           for each  other's
           brokenness, and
          we heal each others's
         wounds.

           Our   togetherness  
           sings  a   beautiful
           melody only known  
           to  us   as   we  bring
           happiness  to each
           other and a promise  
            of a new beginning.

           At our age, we  only
           need to be interested
           in consistency, stability,
           respect and loyalty
           and touching each
           other, holding on to
           each other until it's over.
                                                           ­                                Jon York   2020

I've come to a
         point  in  my  life
           where I need a
           stronger  word
               than ****.
                                                                            Jon York   2019

Two  things  to
remember  in   life.

Take   care  of  your
  thoughts   when
  you   are   alone.

And  take   care   of
your   words  when
you are with people.
                                                         ­                             Jon York   2019

Your mind
                 has  aroused
                         me
                    in  ways
              that harden my
                     acumen
                   and  makes
                         my
                     intellect
                       throb.

                         How
                    I  want  to
                     penetrate
                        that
                     psyche of
                        yours
                          and
                        ******
                 deeply inside
                         your
                    mind  and
                          find
                           that
                     spot  inside
                        you that
                         makes
                 your soul quiver
                     and writhe.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

I
  spend
     too
   many
   hours
      in
     my
    head,
wondering
  whether
       I
    spend
   nearly
       as
    many
        in
     your
     head.

       In
     your
hesitation
        I
   found
      my
  answer.
We are all just fighting to survive a world where "I miss you" doesn't mean I'm coming back and "I love you" doesn't mean I'm here to stay and "I' changed my mind" means you lied on purpose and just didn't want to say you lied so you said "I changed my mind." Why is it when the story ends we begin to feel all of it"?  
                                                          ­                               Jon York   2019

When you see something
beautiful in someone, tell them.
It only takes a second to say,
but for them it could last a lifetime.

If only our eyes saw souls
       instead of  bodies,
how very different our ideals
     of beauty would be.

My story is filled with
broken pieces, terrible choices,
an ugly war and terrible
disrespect upon returning
and then a horrible head injury
in an automobile crash
       and ugly truths.
   It's also filled with major
comebacks, piece  in  my  soul
and  a  grace  that  saved  my  life.

If I ever tell you about my past,
it's NEVER because I want you
to feel sorry for me, but so you can
  understand why and who I am.                                   Jon York   2021

You make me laugh
        when I want to cry
You make me live
        when I want to die
You make me smile
        when I want to frown
You turned my life
        upside down
Because you are deep
        inside my heart
And I knew it from
        very start.

Your love. . .
warms me like my
         favorite morning
         coffee
Your love. . .
comforts me like the
         August heat at
         our Lake home
Your love. . .
melts me from my
         head to my toes
Your love. . .
means everything to
         me and I will
         never let it go.

True love only comes
once in a lifetime yet
         it lasts an eternity
         and will withstand
         the test of time,
         forever waiting
         until its love is
         returned.
                                 Jon York  2018

I have to
        love
     whatever
       is left
     of myself
    and find it
        in me
       to start
       all over
         again
          and
       it hurts
      the  way
       it hurts
       because
       I don't
       know a
        softer
        way to
         bleed.
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

I'm so old that

"getting lucky"

      means

                                     I found my car

                                     in the parking lot.


I.m so old that

my  back  goes

out more than

I do.
                                                             ­                                 Jon York   2019

You are my  Sun,  my  Moon, and
all of my Stars.  You are my heart,
my life, my one and only thought.
.
Some  people search  their whole
life  to find  what  I found in  you.

I  am  not  perfect,  but  I love you. . .
I really do.

And I promise to be your best friend,
your partner in crime and your lover.
    
Forever.....      

My memory runs over and over and over
our  yesterday together  knowing the only
way I can ever go back is the way I did,...

into the fading thoughts of  an  old mind.  
  
Sad to me are those thoughts, thoughts of leaving
not knowing if I will ever return alive,
leaving the  faces of love,  the  places  and  friends,
the traces of sadness in their eyes, wondering if
they will ever see me alive again,

leaving for a war children were fighting to win
and leaving a thousand uncorrected wrongs and
a thousand sunsets.
                                                        ­                              Jon York   2020

You  are  what  you  do,   not
what  you  say  you'll  do. Don't
talk, act. Don't say, show. Don't
promise,  prove.

When things change inside  you,
things change around you. Your
direction is more important than
your speed.

If you start now, you'll begin seeing
results one day earlier than if you
start tomorrow.

Trust  the  timing of your life. There
is  no "RIGHT TIME",  there  is  just
time & what you choose to do with it.

Be a warrior, not a worrier, never
give up, because great things take
time and don't be afraid to fail,
be afraid not to try and remember,
if you want it, you must work
for it.

And remember where you started.
Sometimes you just have to create
your own sunshine.                                                        ­   Jon York  2021

Nothing
        determines who
             you will
       become so much
    as  those  things  you
      choose  to  ignore.
         Not everyday
             is a good
      day, live anyway.
           Not all of
      those people you
           love will
   love you back,  love
              anyway.
  Not  all actions  are  fair,
      play fair anyway.
            Not all of
     your relationships
              will be
       truthful  to  you,
  be truthful with them
              anyway.
  Not all of your so called
              "friends"
    will be there for you
              when you
    needed them the worst  
                    to be,
         be there for them
                anyway.
                                                                                              Jon York  2019

Long live all the magic we made.
Hiding in small spaces making out, feeling each others bodies, tasting each other.

Both of us sneaking into a bathroom at stores in broad daylight, locking the door and going to work on each other. Making out on the couch in your home while your father was in the room just around the corner watching TV on his recliner.

I loved those 60's days', we were so young and so much in love.

We tried to run from our love but our souls craved this magic.

Joy is not the absence of chaos and suffering. Joy is proof that chaos and suffering don't have to be the only things that exist.

Increase your connection with everything that lifts your spirit, expands your reality, nourishes your soul, supports your integrity, honors your reverence, deepens your self expressiveness and helps you keep in touch and harmonize with who and what you love.

Denying yourself joy doesn't improve the world - it only depletes you. Do what makes your soul shine.
                                                          ­                                     Jon York  2025

Think
         only the best,
                work
            for only the
                  best,
           and expect
              only the
                   best.

                 Forget
            the mistakes
                  of  the
                   past
              and press
               on to the
                  greater
             achievements
                   of the
                   future.

Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
                                                                                            Jon York   2019

You thought I would never
      understand. But I think you are
   the  one  that  doesn't  understand.
          My hunger for you is far
       greater  than  you  ever  knew.

            And there was  back  when
      we  both  ached  for  each  other,
          craving each other's hands.
       lips, and a simple touch touch in
                         any form.

            You just wanted to feel me
      feeling you. You are the end of
  my road after a lifetime of missed exits
    and wrong turns,  you are my home
              and one journey ends and
        another finally begins after so many
                             years.

            I wanted to tell you all my
      secrets. But you became one of them.
   It's  hard  to  pretend  to  be  friends with
        someone special. When every time
you look at that person all you see is everything
                       you want to have.
                                                           ­                           Jon York   2020

I reached for you like the
branch of a tree reaching
for the sun and like the
sun you surrounded me
with warmth and love.

And like the sun your
shine so bright and like
the tree I grew in your
direction able to feel
the love that you were
sending.

In that growth I was able
to feel the changes that
were taking place in my
life and being, from the
love that I was receiving.

You filled my life with
love and showed me how
to give love as well as
how to receive love and
grow.

Now we grow together
as one knowing that we
cannot and will not ever
be undone knowing that
we are changed forever
and we never have to
look back at what we
left behind ever.
                                   Jon York    2018

A   dream  is  a  wish
your    heart   makes.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

I love the buildup.  When touching, turns into grabbing.

Soft lips, into passionate tongues.

And your heartbeat getting faster and faster.

               Kissing you is nice, the rest of you is paradise.
                                                                                               Jon York   2019

Don't try relentlessly to understand because only time
itself will decide and there really is no reason to be sad,
because it is written for you: your joy, my joy, our joy
together, will come when it is time.

I barely remember the first time that we met but I
distinctly remember when you said hello and it was a
voice that sounded love to me and I didn't know that
love could be this way, my food and my drink, the sun
all day, my dreams at night, and my thoughts all day,
everyday.

Her love is in my words when I write my poetry,in my
tears that I cry because we are apart and in my tears
when I think about all of those missed years when we
could have been together but chance and circumstance
chose otherwise and my sadness I can not disguise but
what we have the now is special even thought apart.

As I read her letters to me I realize it won't be too very
long before we will both can make a new start and I am
learning now that the many years away did not fade
my memories of the lines of our dialogue nor make
vague the dates and places that we used hide to kiss
and touch and discover each others skin and lips

My hands still remember all of the contours of her body
and I can clearly feel her touch when we were so young
and I am glad that we were like singing birds free to fly
away in search of other songs but eager to return to one
another because we both had a dream of love and we
now look for that dream in hidden places of the future
an in secret places of our hearts.  
                                                                ­                   Jon York   2018

Kiss her
slowly, take  your  time, like there's  no  place
you'd rather be. Not like your waiting for something
else, like your hands touching her thighs, or undoing
her  bra   straps, nothing  like  that.
                              Kiss her
like   you've   forgotten   any  other  mouth  that  your
mouth  has  ever  touched.   Kiss  her  with  a  curious
delight.  Inhale  her  sighs.   Kiss  her  till  she  moans.
Kiss her with her face  in your  hands.  Let  her  know
how  bad  you  really  want  to  just  kiss  her.
                               Kiss her
like  you  want  to  take  her  dancing.   Like you want
to spin her into an open arena and watch  her  look  at  
you  like  you're  the brightest  thing  she's  ever seen.
Like  she's   the   brightest  thing   you've   ever   seen.
                                Kiss her
like   the   first  and  only   piece   of   chocolate  you're  
ever  going   to  get.  Until  she  forgets  how   to   love.  
Kiss  her  stupid.  Kiss  her  silent.

We   think  we  want  ***,  but   it's  not   always  about
***. It's  intimacy we  want. To be touched. Looked at,
admired.  Smiled  at. Laugh with someone.  Feel  safe.
Someone's  really  got  you.   That's  what  you   crave.
A  serious  girl,  when  she finds someone  who  calms
her spirit and quiets her busy thoughts, will  love  you
so fiercely it will defy even her own logic and reasoning.
                                                                                             Jon York   2020

The biggest lesson I've learned
this year
is that no one is really your friend
or truly loves you
until they've seen every dark
shadow inside of you

and stayed.

Not everyone gets
the same version of me.
One person might tell you I'm
an amazing beautiful soul,
another person will say I'm a
cold - heart ted ******* - believe
them both. I act accordingly.

No one is more hated than he who
speaks the truth, and if you want to
come into my life, the door is open,
you want to get out of my life, the door
is open. Just one request... Don't stand
in the door, you're blocking the traffic.
                                                        ­                     Jon York 2018

Your eyes sang to my
soul,
your lips kissed my
heart,
your smile captured my
love,
your tender touch
bonded my love for
eternity,
you live in my heart and
head,
for my eyes saw your
beauty.
What else can I say to
make your day?
Have a good day.
                                                                                            Jon York   2019

The sun
                       sees her
                         body,
                     the moon
                       sees her
                          soul.

                         She  is
                       devoted
                          to the
                           moon,
                  in its darkness
                       she finds
                       comfort
                          and
                     in its light
                           she
                     finds hope.

                     She loves
                     moonlight
                          and
             rainstorms and many
                other things that
                       have soul
            and  like the moon,
                     part of  her is
                        always
                         hidden.
                                                         ­                                  Jon York   2019

Long ago,
far away,
or was it
only yesterday?

Someone
asked me
if I knew you.

A million
memories
flashed through
my mind,
but I
smiled and said,
"I used to,
a long time ago."
                                                                                                Jon York   2024

Everything
     you want  is
     on   the  other
      side of fear.
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

Miss somebody?                    Call
Wanna meet up?                    Invite
Wanna be understood?         Explain
Have questions?                     Ask
Don't like something?           Say it
Want something?                   Ask For it
Love someone?                       Tell Them

Watch your THOUGHTS, for

they  become WORDS, watch

your   WORDS,  they  become

ACTIONS, watch  your ACTIONS,

they  become  HABITS,  watch
  
your  HABITS,   they   become

your  CHARACTER,  watch you
r
CHARACTER , for  it  becomes

               your DESTINY.

KNOW THAT  A  DIFFERENT  VERSION  OF YOU EXISTS IN THE MINDS OF EVERYONE WHO KNOWS YOU.
                                                            ­                                 Jon York  2018

She doesn't say
"I love you"
      like a
     normal
     person.
     Instead,
  she'll laugh,
shake her head,
      give you
    a little smile,
       and say,
"you're an idiot"
       if she tells
            you
   you're an idiot,
          you're
               a
       lucky man.
\
            Take a
             lover
              who
             looks
             at you
                like
             maybe
             you are
              magic.
                                                                                       Jon York   2019

Your  eyes  
       hold   everything  
       my  soul   thirsts
       for  and   I  only
       sleep  to  dream
       of  forever  with
                  you.

        Into  you, I melt
             all of me.
                                                                                          Jon York   2019

the most painful tears are not
the ones that fall from our eyes
and cover  your  face.
It's   the  ones that  fall  from
your heart and cover your soul.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

Maybe  if  we  tell  people  the
           brain  is an  APP,

        they will star using it.

It's okay if people don't like you,

most people don't even like
                themselves.

                               ­                                                        Jon York    2019

TASTE HER
     when she
     pleads with you,
     "tie me up and
     tease me until
     I beg you
     to release me."
     slow,
     long,
     with focus,
     deeply,
     unhurried,
     playfully,
     passionately,
     lovingly,
     delicately,

     TASTE  HER
     when she
     whispers to you
    ,"you own my
      heart and my
      ***."

      Love is nothing
      without action, trust is nothing
      without proof,
      and "sorry" is
      nothing without change.
                                                                                         Jon York   2019

No matter
     how much I
    say I love you
    I always love
you more than that.
                                                                                        Jon York  2019

Truth is. . . .
I am insane but my intentions are gold and my heart is pure...
you never get too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream....
my path requires validation from nobody....
I just want to drink coffee, save animals and sleep.
sometimes it takes a good fall to know where you really stand....
you should not rip yourself into pieces to keep others whole....

Truth is. . . .
everyone is going to hurt you so you just have to find the one who's
                                                                                                 worth the pain....
doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will....
worry is a misuse of  your imagination...
you do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do....

Truth is
I have learned to see beauty and goodness everywhere and know and
                                                        know that the real joy of life is to love....
the bad news is you cannot make people like, love, understand,  
        validate, accept or be nice to you and you cannot control them
                                                   either, the good news is it doesn't matter....
it takes sadness to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate silence,
                                                                             absence to value presence....
if you continuously compete with others you become bitter but if you
                        continuously compete with yourself, you become better....

Truth is. . .
you have the power to change your life at any given moment and never
                                                                                                        forget that....
the future can be better than the present and you have the power to
                                                                                                         make it so....
                                                                            Jon York    2016

Every  girl is a  freak,
it just takes the right
guy  to  bring  it  out.
                                                                                             Jon York   2019

If only our
eyes   saw
     souls  
instead   of
bodies, how
very different
our ideals
of beauty
would be.

You don't
have a soul.
You  are a
      soul.
You have a
     body

A   beautiful
face will age
and a perfect
body will
change.                                                      
                                                                ­     I don't want to make love,
But a beautiful                                           I just want to rub my soul
soul will always                                         up against yours and watch
be a beautiful                                              love make us.
soul.

Fight for the                                                             All I
fairy tale, it                                                              c­an do is            
does  exist.                                                     ­          be me,
                                                             ­                       whoever that is.
                                                             ­                                Jon York  2019

It's simple really ----
it's mice to just sit alone,
listen to some
music & meditate.
If you look at life carefully,
you soon come to realize
the beauty overshadows
           the flawed.
                                                                                     Jon York   2019

Believe
  you deserve it
        and the
      universe
     will serve it.

       Attract
     powerful,
      positive,
& healthy people
    in your life.

          And
   things will fall
    perfectly into
      place - with
           more
     opportunity,
    success and joy
       than ever
          before.

         Believe.
                       ­                                                                 ­    Jon York   2019

It   was   you,
      it   was   me,
  it was the silence
underneath the stars
   that understood
     my heartbeat
     and its racing.
You told me nothing,
I believed everything,
   in that moment
      I found life
    in that moment
     I found you.
        I promise.
      if you keep
      searching
   for everything
       beautiful
      in the world,

        you will
       eventually
       become it.
      

                                                     ­                               Jon York   2019

COMMUNICATION is NOT
                     the  key  to a
                     SUCCESSFUL
                  RELATIONSHIP.

               COMPREHENSION
                                is.
               DOESN'T MATTER
                               how
                         much you
                  COMMUNICATE
                     with a person.....

               If  they don't get ****,
                        what good
                               is
              COMMUNICATION?

                        Always be
                in love with a SOUL,
                        not a FACE
                             OR  A
                            BODY.

                        She had me
                 with her words but
                        she lost me
                WITH HER ACTIONS.

                    Go where you feel
                     MOST ALIVE and
                do  whatever the  HELL
                   it takes to make you
                  FEEL  REAL  AGAIN.
                                                     ­                                       Jon York   2020

That sparkle in your eyes that I know
is just for me and.the warmth of your
skin and your breath on my neck that
quivers within is where we begin.

The touch of your hand and the smell
of your hair and the strength in your
stare from your blue eyes so fair tells
me to do with you what I may dare.

The kiss of your lips from a body so
fair and the stroke of your touch from
the one I love so much arouses me
enough to take you there remembering
that a kiss seals two souls for a moment
in time.

The sound of your laughter is like that
of a child but the compassion in your
embrace is nothing but wild and the
beating of your heart against my chest
puts my mind to rest when thinking
about tomorrow knowing  that you
will bring  me happiness not sorrow.
                                                         ­                  Jon York  2018

Love is a
             commitment
              to protecting
                  another
             person's heart
             with  the  same
               passion you
                    used to
                 guard your
                       own.

                       I will
                  choose you,
                   even when
                  you're mad.
                    My love
                 for  you  won't
                  simply fade
           because we are angry.
                    I  know  we
                     will fight,
          we will be frustrated,
                     we will be
               human. Still, I will
                 go into battle
               for you. Still I will
                   choose you
             I will  choose you
                         and
            keep choosing you
                        every
                     single day.
                                                            ­                                  

                             ­                                                           Jon York   2019

I  could  have
          avoided  you,
          but somehow
          I  knew  you
               were a
             collision
         worth having.
                                                                                       Jon York   2019

and
    our love existed
           between
           "what if?"
                and
            "if only"
                and
"I'm afraid we'll be one
          of the ones
           who miss
            each other
        their entire life."
                and
   sometimes you have
               to die
       a little bit inside
                before
              you truly
        understand how
               to live.
      I  can  and  I  will
          find someone
            better who
        loves me  as much
           as I deserve
                and
      treats me the way
           I deserve
        to  be  treated.
If it hurts too much to hold on, then it's time to let go. You may have hurt me but you didn't break me. You don't have that much
power over me.
                                                             ­                            Jon York   2020

One life on this earth is all we get whether it is enough
or not enough but all  I want kisses is from you without
question marks and if at some point one lingers I want the passion we share to make the question marks stand at attention, straighten their backs and transform themselves back into exclamation marks locking themselves to our lips.

The obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can and try to embrace what is so evident.

Sometimes in life you must look through the barriers to see the beauty and you must look beyond the walls to the heart waiting
on the other side, and forget all the reasons and all the voices telling you to stop.

Look through the pain, the heartache or the waiting and see, and for the first time see all that lies beyond and just embrace it.

When the cold wind blows, I will close my eyes, calmly  knowing
I am anchored to you and because of you I feel myself slowly but surely becoming the me I have always dreamed of being and I embrace it.

I hope with quiet sincerity that the final words that ever leave these lips of mine will always be, "I love you."

                                                          ­                               Jon York   2018

The right
                poem
                 finds
                  us
               exactly
               when it
              needs to.
                                                                          Jon York   2019

The  two  most  powerful
warriors are patience and time.

Be careful who  you  make
memories   with  --  those
things  can last  a lifetime.

Don't   judge   others   just
because  they sin  differently than you.

Sometimes life is about risking
everything for a dream no one
can see but you.

Sometimes   wisdom   means
staying  quiet  while  others
loudly express their ignorance.

The key to keeping your balance
is knowing when you've lost it.

Our relationship should be a safe
heaven,  not a   battlefield.  The
world  is hard  enough  already.

Life is a journey to be experienced,
not a problem to be solved.

You could be my "come and stay"  
in a world of "people come and go."

The only thing I'm committed
to right now    is bettering myself.                                  Jon York   2019