When a poet cries,
tears are his words,
and so many are
coming from this poet,
as I write looking for
a rhyme because my heart
aches so much  it seems
a crime.
This paper is my sleeve,
wiping away the tears
that form a delicate weave
deciding what to say about her,
each teardrop with a life
of it's own as they fall
down on to the paper.
I will continue to cry until
the right words are found,
because  my love for her
was not a gift to be given,
it was a love that wanted
to be accepted and accepted
I thought it was when
she said to me,
"Could you really be the one
I've searched for in
all of my sixty years," the one
I've dreamed about
and shed so many tears?"
going on to say,
"thank you Jesus for this man
I've looked for so very long
and I will treat him like the gold
he is and sing my happy song."
This love I'll never lose I thought,
and this is a joy I cannot refuse.
But her parting left in my heart
a big hole and she does not wilt
at my cries and I know she
does not fret, for in her
I found reprise.
The love she gave me
I won't forget, but my
loneliness harms me,
becoming darkness,
a broken heart startled
into awareness.
I am horribly ashamed
because I find I've gotten lost
with no one to find me,
but I only blame myself.
Mornings are the hardest
for me because she is all
I see in my thoughts,
but by afternoon the pain
is mostly gone but thoughts
of her never leave and
I continue to grieve.
So happy for two years in
what now seems such
a short time and now all
I am left with is a rhyme.            Jon York    2011

I believe life
            is better when you
        turn the music way up
    and  think about  the  lyrics,
                  eat too much
         chocolate, smoke a lot
    of  marijuana,  walk  barefoot,
            talk about weird ****
                     like magic,
       with  weird  people  who
              believe  in  magic.
                Hug strangers,
      and have good adventures
                  with a lot of
        road trips to see all the
 the  beauty  that  surrounds  you.
                  These things
        won't make life perfect,
                 but they sure
        as hell make this strange
                ride  more  fun.
         Be fearless  in pursuit of
               what sets your
                soul on fire.
         Remember  what it's
               like  to  really
                   feel alive.  
    It's not what we have in life,
              but  who  we  have
                     in our life
                          that
                       matters.
                                ­                                                   Jon York   2019

Living in seclusion and seemingly trapped
in the worlds illusions of what is right and
what is wrong as I continue searching for
those things I just can't seem to find because
I am trapped inside.

All seems a grand illusion and there is just
no escape from this confusion but I am
happy being alone because my mind is free
to roam.

I get out of bed with a sudden urge to write
and I look through subjects of which to
write about and I find that some hold anger,
some are filled with heartbreak and reveal
the fear that people hold of places, and of
events of their past, but the subject of love
is really the only one that reveals to me
the sun.

We don't stop loving because we grow old
but we will grow old if we stop loving and
life is beauty so let us admire it and life is
sometimes a dream so let us realize it and
let us dare it.

Let love be your guiding light and know
that all of the hurt and pain will eventually
fade away and know that the strong will
always prevail in the end so let time be
your friend.
                                                             Jon York   2016

Love has come and gone as the years just keep
on flying by, but this last one hurt so bad that
I just wanted to die, at least until I found out
that it was all just a series of thoughtless lies.

I've been through so many loves that I guess this
one was just a bad penny. So full of promises
and hope and I believed her like some stupid
dope and in the end it became nothing but
a bad joke.

How foolish of me to ever think something
of substance was behind that beautiful wink
and those pretty words and that delicate
touch that flooded my mind with false bliss.

She lives day to day in an endless search
for her own personal gratifications, only
living to gain and only gaining for herself.

I wrote so many pretty words to catch her eye,
but she doesn't read me and never even tried,
leaving me to wonder why.

I have spoken my truths and lived her lies and
spoke of loves power to overcome pain but the
fact of the matter is only pain still remains.

Love is a game, perhaps the hardest game
around because there are no rules, but I will
win the next game and you can bet that I
won't play the same way that I did this last
one that was filled with shame.   
                                               Jon York   2011

You have to wonder how
much of what weighs you
down is not yours to carry,
so don't talk, just act, don't
say, just show and don't
promise, just prove and
know that if you were a
bird you would know who
to **** on.

Unless it's a mad passionate,
extraordinary love, it's a
waste of your time because
there are too many mediocre
things in life and love
shouldn't be one of them so  
realize that love is like a
****, if you have to force it,
it's probably ****.

Believe in yourself and
when you say " yes " to
others, make sure you are
not saying "no" to yourself
and don't strop until you're
proud even if you have
to be loud.
                                                   Jon York      2016

My life I thought was
so uncertain, as if I was
drawing a curtain just
wanting to be alone.

Facing changes that no man
should have to face,
but able to get back up,
survive and start again.

Just floating about as if
life wasn't real, trying to
figure out what was the
the deal, then it all started
to get real.

She showed me that I could
not make it alone anymore,
that I needed her love and
that I could love and not hate
anymore. She showed me the
door to understanding and faith.

So much beauty in this world,
touch it, feel it and be part of it.
There is no need to hate and
we need to realize this before
it is too late.          
                                     Jon York

that day will come. . .
in the later years of our lives
when we can finally realize that the best
has just begun and you begin to see things
so much better as you can pick and choose
what and who you want to hold to be dear
and what and who you want to lose
because life has become
much more clear.

that day will come. . .
when you are able to realize
that we are no longer young
as you start to come undone finding
that you can no longer move as fast
and just aren't able to last
as long as you would like to
while doing things that you love
as life becomes push and shove.

that day will come. . .
when shadows fall deep inside
turning a page in time
as you just can't seem to find
that eternal rhyme but you can discover
the real reasons that you hold life
to be so dear discovering
who is really real and who
was just trying to steal.

that day will come. . .
when you begin to realize that everything
and everyday gets harder
and you begin to wonder if what
you have done while on this earth
has really been of any worth.

that day will come. . .
when you begin to realize
that your time here is getting short
as you seem to be running out of time
upon discovering that you are no longer
in your prime and realizing
that it did not stay very long
as you look up and
it is gone.

that day will come. . .
when you discover that
you can't continue your masquerade
nor can you keep lying to yourself
as you discover that there is
little time to spare as you learn
what love really is and that
you really do need to care.

that day will come. . .
when you discover that the darkness
has just begun and there is really
nowhere to run or hide anymore
so you just go through that door
in hopes of finding some more light
and hoping that there is still a lot more
love left in your life and finally
you will get it right.

that day will come. . .
even at your extended age
when a final true love can turn the page
saying "I love you" and meaning it
allowing your soul to live
feeling that inner strength and power
as you can finally believe that
love can be and you are
finally able to see.

that day will come. . .
when you take that chance
for one more dance while trying
to understand why there has to be
darkness before there is light
as you begin to discover that it is
finally your turn so you take
your best shot giving love
everything you have got.

that day will come. . .
when you know that you
have won the race and can say
to all of those doubters
"in your face."   

that day will come. . .                            Jon York        2013

I do not write just for you
and I do not write
in order to catch
your eye.

In fact I'd rather some
not read my impoverished words at all
since these are my own personal
impoverished thoughts.

Who is it that I write for,
well there is no presure to impress
and no needs that need
to be met but only myself
and my sanity laid bare
and my instability for
all to see.

Seemingly too afraid to speak,
my words come alive as ink
and this for me is my only mirror
however distorted it may be.

It was all really very funny
that I got so mad and seemed
so hurt just because
I was had by the Kansas Queen
of mean.

She did it so clean almost
like a surgeon at work
just cutting me to pieces like
I was some ****.

But I can still smile
and I would still go that
extra mile for that kind of love
but not for that kind of person
who lacks  somewhat
in style.

Her life is only one big lie
and she knows it
but those that surround her think
she is nothing but blue Sky.

In truth she can
hardley wait to tell
just one more lie in order to watch
a grown man cry.

Just so you know
my world will go on since you left
but I will never be the same
only left behind holding on to empty
memories smothered
in lies.

Why the addiction to your memories,
because moments come and pass
but those like time machines
and broken dreams
are unforgettable.

I can only look back on what
I was on that very first day that we met
and had the feeling of a driven cause
and for some stupid reason
thought that you
felt it too.

But I am stuck in the now,
broken somehow
and it is still unforgettable.

No longer can I breathe you in
letting your arms hold me safe and tight
as you take me
through the night.

All I really want now
is my freedom from this spiral cage
and my chance to dance again
into my never ending
night and the rain.

I don't think I could find
the right words to let you know exactly
what you mean to me and I know that you think
it doesn't really matter but no other thought
could make me sadder.

Sometimes I am so confused
and unsure of what to say
but sometimes
it just turns out that way.......  Jon York         2012

I am a mystery, a puzzle to be solved.
I am every day it gets harder as I struggle through the day as the pain just seems to grow.
I am just another love not meant to be and I was just too blind to see.
I am why am I so addicted to her memory.
I am not the answer but I'll always be the question.
I am the dark side of love and loss.
I am running on empty but always just a step behind what I am trying to find.
I am a writer that does not write to catch her eye with these private thoughts that come alive as ink.
I am  a writer that writes to allow my soul to live.
I am sometimes I crawl into myself because there I can write and it gets me through the night.
I am things inside my head never said, random thoughts of things that I have  sought.
I am respect for myself, respect for others, responsible for my own actions.
I am feelings that are written as a message on paper.
I am sometimes you just need to put the past away and move on with your life.
I am it's been awhile since I've been truly happy.
I am why didn't I see it coming.
I am a Poet with so much to say and maybe she will hear me someday.
I am the eternity I saw in her eyes but what I missed were all of the lies.
I am a heart that is slowly dying from the disease called love.
I am you played me like a video game and I will never be the same.
I am unforgettable moments that came to pass.
I am time machines and broken dreams.
I am even when it is all done, it isn't.
I am....                                                           Jon York                       2012

In this silly human race there are so many
liars and cheaters who are always
getting in your face with lies
that disgrace.

Every day they look you straight in the eyes
with all of their many lies
and sometimes it is so hard
to understand why.

As humans we can only take
so much pain but so many are just
out for their own personal gain
and from inflicting pain these
liars do not refrain.

Self centered they are
just wanting to be the one and only star
as they feel the power of their lies
to those who are too scared
to ask why.

With lies they have control and power
and the ability to manipulate
when in reality their own life is
pretty sour so just walk away before
it becomes too late
and you start thinking that they might
be telling the truth on
any given day.

Realize that lying is all that they know
and that they are infectious parasites that
will disease your heart and soul
with their lies delivered to you in a chalice of
smiles and sweet kisses and be aware
that with those hugs and kisses
only come broken wishes
and steady misses.

If only
are the only two words
that can always
make one feel so lonely
as they cause you to
lose sight even though
you still have your vision...                                                        ­
                                       Jon York     2012

As you walked through the door,
our eyes met and with no regret
I knew that I was going to spend
the rest of my life loving you.

The moment our lips touched,
I felt the longing in your heart,
and that you were ready for
a new start, and you wanted
this so much.

Your heart danced with my soul,
and  knew that it was finally whole,
at that very  beautiful moment.

Your eyes spoke a language that
I understood oh so well.  I was
like a prize fighter waiting for the
bell, ready to engage in the fight
of my life, knowing that this one
I would not lose.

Seems you always know what to say,
and when to pray.
When I try to hide my tears, you sense
them and understand my pain, and you
send your healing smile my way,
realizing that we have much to gain.

There was something so very special
that very first day, and  a year later,
and our hearts are still intertwined and
the love still remains, so sweet, so rare,
because we both acted on a dare for a
love that seems to have no rhyme or
reason, it is just there.
                                                    Jon York

Everyone wants to
                      be the sun,
         to brighten up someones
                 life, but why not
           be the moon to shine
                   on someones
                   darkest hour?

                 And if you are
        to love, love like the moon
                 loves. It doesn't
            steal  the night.  It  only
                 unveils the beauty
                     of the days

                  Love me like
           the moon intended, all
              the  way  through
                   the darkness.

                 The sun loves
            the  moon  so  much,
                 he dies every
          night to let her breathe.

             Never save things
          for special occasions.
                Being alive is
        the only special occasion
                       there is.
                                                            
                                                                                            Jon York   2019

She will be open
and yet mysterious and concerned
but not really very serious
yet she will have class without pretence
and style without offense .

She will be able to  laugh
but will be somewhat serene
and she will take the time to dream
yet will sit in slience when there is nothing to be  
said and she will talk about her freedom
that she lives everyday.

This is the women that I look for  
and I wonder where are
you are hiding my love
because I have sought you
for so long.

I will care not whose you were
or even whose you are
because when I see you
and look into your eyes you
will know that you
are mine.

Each day without you
will never come again and I wait in hope
and sorrow thinking that maybe
you will come tomorrow
and connect with my soul.

Love was before birth
and love is after death and the emotions
that I have explored here
are very near to my heart
and I hope that I have expressed
them well.                

These were my thoughts
and emotions when I met her
but she stayed for only two years
and now now she is gone.

I sit here knowing that another
will come soon and I will try again
to make my dreams
come true.                           

I have to remember
that people live and die but
I know that there  is a place for me
in someone's eye...         Jon York        2012

We are all young
at some point in our lives
and we are all older at another point
in our lives and we all go through
that time in between
and some are what they buy
and what they are sold
as some just exist while doing
nothing in their lives
except growing old.

Some succeed at whatever they do
because Daddy's money will
see them through
as some fail at everything they touch
while there are those who don't
ever do too much
as they just sit there and don't really care
if they ever win or lose
because they never get
to choose.

Some of us go through life
happy all of the time
while others just frown because
they get tired of being the clown
and being held down
because of the way they look
or because they can't
read a book.

Some are born with strength
and speed and can usually
take the lead in whatever
they try to do while others
just sit around and cry
and wonder why nothing ever
comes their way
as they keep thinking
maybe someday.

Each generation is different
but in realty the same as they each
try to make a name for themselves
but in the end we are all so much the same
as we all try to play the same game
of survival with nothing changing
except the tools which we have to use,
the time, the place and the face
of those caught up
in the race.

The one constant is love
with the only thing changing
is how much one is prepared to give
and how much one
is willing to receive and of course
how much you let yourself
believe in as you realize
that everything is different
but nothing  changes.                                             Jon York        2013

The days, the months, the years just keep flying by
but where there used to be tears have now been
replaced with cheers that I am still here
and I sit looking out the window as I travel
down the road of life observing and learning
from experience that everyone has their own
little or maybe big secrets that will never ever
be revealed to anyone and so many pretend
to be something or someone that they are not
as they often overlook the fact that
the truth will always be the truth
even if no one believes it but a lie is still a lie
even if everyone believes it.

I am who I am and what you see is what you get
and your approval is not needed and some of the time
I live in seclusion seemingly trapped in some illusion
lost but found as the world keeps spinning around
as there are times there  seems no escape
from my confusion but I am happy alone
because there I can roam the innards of my mind
and like the three things that cannot be hidden-
the sun, the moon, and the truth,
my words always find their way out.

I am who I am, an Artist/writer
and I let my power of love overcome
my love of power and through my words of love
I tell no lies and what I am in your eyes
doesn't really matter and I don't care
what others think because I don't live my life
for anybody but me.

Others can live their lies and pretend
but in the end all will know what they really are
and there will be no love only shame
that will fit like a glove as they shovel the dirt
over their grave leaving only those left behind
to feel their pain.

I am far from being what I want to be
but with my soul's help I shall succeed
as I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate
and the more I think about it the more I realize
that there is nothing more artistic
then to love others with the words that I write
and writing those words that are in my soul
makes the pain stop so I write away my pain
expecting no gain except to know that
somewhere somehow my words gave
someone the ability to love again.          Jon  York          2013

"far Out Man" was
an expression we used
in the sixties when something
was really cool
and todays kids have no clue
to a term that was once the rule
and if you survived those years
and are still here
then that is what I would say,
"far out man"
without a doubt.

What a ride
and I am so surprised
that I am still alive
after living through
so many near misses
and so many stolen kisses
that brought so many
broken hearts
after playing
so many different
parts.

Been through those doors
so many times before
and it makes me wonder
when will
I get it right and not just
end up with
a bunch of rhymes
and I wonder how many
lifetimes do I have to live
before someone
will take what I have
to give.

How many heartbreaks
can I take before
it is just too late
and how much pain
must I sustain
for somebody elses gain
and that is about all that
I have to say in this rhyme
at this time.

So either
take me as I am
or watch me as I go
and that is really
"far out, man."                                    Jon York                 2012

It is STILL THE SAME for a Vietnam combat Veteran and
I am sixty-nine and it has been forty-seven years since I
returned home to America after standing up for our flag
and fulfilling my job which was to **** and as a highly
trained Marine that is exactly what I did for 13 months,
taking many lives every day and at the end of the day all
that we could say is how many did we **** today?

They called us grunts and side by side we fought and died
fighting a war that we thought we could win and every day
and night it took all our training to survive and side by side
we fought for our flag as many of our friends returned
home in a body bag.

Seems like I write about Veterans Day every year and here
in 2017 IT IS STILL THE SAME for Vietnam combat
Veterans: we lived through the war, now we die at home,
we are suicide soldiers who beat the odds, but we die alone
without our squads, and we totally look forward to death,
so we can find peace and we can get some rest.

IT IS STILL THE SAME: we can never forget the eyes, the
death rattling sounds that our mind seeks to drown and
the labored breathing and vacant lifeless eyes of life loss
that we despise as we spend a lifetime with segmented
visions of memory recalling death and life in vivid color
images because with death and dying you never forget
the eyes, friend or foe and we still hear their cries.

2017 at home IS NOT THE SAME for there are those who
refuse to stand for our flag and continue to disrespect our
country and those who fought and died for it and to those
who choose not to stand can just get out of my land that
I stood up and fought for called America.
                                          Jon York   2017
                                    USMC Vietnam 69-70

Excellence is never an
accident, it represents
the wise choice of many
alternatives; sincere effort,
intelligent execution and
a choice not to waste time,
for time is what life is made
of and in your journey
choose to have purpose
on earth and strength in
direction and strength in
messages that you give
yourself because those
are the most important
messages that you will
hear.

It may be that by choosing
labor and painful effort and
by choosing grim energy
and absolute courage that
you are able to be here and
are able to move on to better
things and it might be that
somebody chose to believe
in you, so you need to choose
not to let them down and if
you have the opportunity to
make things better and you
choose not to, then you are
wasting your time on this
planet, and if you choose to
spend your life waiting for
the storm, you will never
enjoy the sunshine, so live
in a good place, keep your
mind deep, and treat others
well, stand by your word,
make fair rules, and do the
right thing and work when
it is time, as you determine
your destiny by choices
that you make.               Jon York 2017

HATE   has   4   letters,
so does LOVE.  ENEMIES
has  7  letters,  so   does
FRIENDS.   LYING  has  5
letters,  so  does  TRUTH.

NEGATIVE  has  8  letters,
so  does  POSITIVE.

UNDER  has  5  letters, so
does  ABOVE.  CRY  has
3  letters,  so  does   JOY.
ANGER  has  5  letters, so
does  HAPPY.  

Do you think that this is just a coincidence?

RIGHT  has  5  letters, so
does  WRONG.   HURT
has 4 letters, so does HEAL.

Not all storms come to
disrupt your life, some
come to clear your path.

Life is a double edged
sword, exceed your expectations,
dance the night away,
be your best self.
Don't look back.

Some people feel the rain,
others  just  get  wet, so
just do what makes your
soul shine.                                                                          Jon York   2019

maybe next time. . .
I will realize that life is more than who we are
and that will never change and I will be able
to live my dreams and choose how
to live and what to give.

what if. . .
we could choose whether or not to be born
or we could choose our parents and choose when to die
and there was never any reason to ever lie.

maybe next time. . .
I will realize that attitude is more important than facts
and attitude is more important than the past,
than education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than successes, than what people
may think or say or do.

what if. . .
we had a choice everyday regarding the attitude
that we will embrace for that day
and we were in charge of those attitudes
and we could realize the impact
of attitude on our lives.

maybe next time. . .
I can be goodness and mercy and compassion
and be understanding and peace and joy and light
and I can be forgiveness and patience,
strength and courage, a helper in time of need,
a comforter in time of sorrow, a healer in time of injury,
a teacher in times of confusion.

maybe next time. . .
I can be the deepest wisdom and the highest truth,
the greatest peace and the grandest love
and I chose to know myself as
all of these things always.

what if. . .
there is something special I want to do
and I finally learn that I do not receive wisdom
but that I must discover it for myself
and I know that my journey through the wilderness
is something which no one else
can make for me.

maybe next time. . .
I will examine my options closer
and I can be more selective and more patient
and can separate her lies from her truth. . .
maybe next time. . .            
                                                      Jon York        2013

Some things,
and some people,
are written
in your soul
with
permanent ink.
                                                            ­                 Jon York   2019

I wanted to  love  her
          like  she's  never  been
          loved before...
          With my hands
          I  unarmed  her  heart,
          with my eyes
          I  undressed  her  soul.

           and I whispered to her,
           "You are a poem
             I keep on writing,
             a book I can't put down,
             a story that is
              never ending,
              a page I cannot turn."

               Loving you
               in breathless
               moments,
               stolen kisses,
               adrenaline
                rushes...
                                                                                     Jon York   2019

I like the
kind of people
      that get
  excited over
the stars at night.

    
                                                                                          Jon York    2019

Words are thoughts
I cannot speak so I write
my feelings because I am
sometimes unsure of
everything else except
my poetry and sometimes
it is like the wind that
changes direction all
of the time.

Depression can be
a poets silent death
but myself I  choose
new beginnings because
one must turn tragedy
into tenacity and make
new starts playing
new parts.

Mistakes mean you're
trying so don't be
too ******* yourself
because there are always
plenty of people willing
to do that for you so
just do your best and
surrender the rest
while turning your
attitude into gratitude.      Jon York      2014

Sometimes I don't know what to say
about life's tastes because words
are not enough to describe
what I really feel because
I find beauty in ordinary things
and this is a gift I hope that I never lose
because life is too short to waste
so I remember well life's and love's
sweet taste and the bittersweet taste
of the many lies that always
come so well disguised.

Remember well those many loves
that you thought at the time
were real and the many loves
that you were able to steal
but most of all remember those loves
that were real because they tasted
so sweet and never missed a beat
so drink your fears, for it is
the armor for the battles
to come.

When all hope seems lost
and you fall tattered and torn
and in pain, look to the light within
because there can be no rainbow
without some rain,

So watch the sunsets
and dance in the rain
because there is not a minute
or a second to spare while we are here
so wash away that pain realizing
how much you have to gain,
knowing that sometimes
the other persons definition of forever
is not nearly as long as yours
and that makes it harder
to say I'm okay.

And remember that sometimes
you forget what is real
and sometimes you forget
how to feel  so you ask yourself
what is love, is it what
everyone hopes for or
is it a drug.or a poison
or is it accepting someone
for who and what they really are
no matter what, or is it
just an emotion only a few
ever experience.

Does love last a lifetime or maybe
just a few years or a month or a day
or is it only in dreams and the answer
to this seems to come at the right time for everyone
and all we all can do is remember it,
so we drink in as much as we can
and try to understand all of life's
different tastes.                      Jon York           2013

It is all about the money we learn
because money talks and suckers walk
and this is sometimes sad to say
but if there is no money
there are no friends only pretends
and no one looks anymore
because on money everything
depends.

Have it and here come the friends
and you are so beautiful
and seemingly so happy
and a little bit scrappy.

If you don't have it
you are invisible
and become depressed and insecure
and all of those other things
about which no one really cares
to look at or see so they
set you free.

When the money comes
you are suddenly set free
and all of a sudden it is just
about me, me, me
and you feel so good
and can do almost anything
with a little more
zing.

You see no more middle class
as all you see are the very needy
and the very greedy
because you are either
super rich or super poor
but you are always
wanting more.

If you are poor thay will
always show you the door
but when you have everything
and everything comes your way
you find life easy
and you don't even have
to be ****** and now you get to
show them the door.

It doesn't matter
if you are wealthy in knowledge
or rich with love
because you can't spend it
or deposit it into a bank
and only few can recognize
such wealth so when
push comes to shove
money in the hand is always
the most grand because
that is just the
way it is.

Moral of the story :
Find the money and your skies
will always be sunny
or get rich and you won't
have to live with a *****
and always listen to the money talk
or you will just be taking a walk
and having it is a must
because without it life is
just a big bust
so listen very carefully as
the money talks.                                             Jon   York              2012

Dreams
                  are  only  dreams
                        until you
                        wake up
                  and make  them  
                             real.

                 You are the Author
                     of  your  story.
                           If your
                stuck on  the  same  
                              page,
                   remember  that  at  
                       any  moment,
                         you have
                the  power to write a
                        new chapter.

                       You will never
                  always be motivated.
                            You have
                     to be disciplined.
                          The future
                   depends  on  what
                         you do today.

                      Love what you do,
                             so one day
                        you can do what
                              you love.
                                                                                          Jon York   2019

Regret nothing
and be grateful for what you are
and what you have
whether it is good or bad
and know that wealth
is not possession but enjoyment
so be grateful for the people
throughout your life that made you happy
especially the ones who made
your soul blossom
as we can learn much from those
who have gone before us.

Don't be afraid to step off
of the accepted path
and head off in your own direction
if your heart tells you
that it is the right way to go
and always believe that
you will succeed at whatever you do
and wherever you go
because you never know
how strong you are
until being strong is the only choice
that you have.

Don't worry about whether
your beautiful or you are ugly
because by the time that we are eighty
we will all look the same
even after playing our little game
so just hang in there
and everything will be all right
and try to get some sleep
at night.

As we go through life
we learn that they can't teach you
everything that you need to know in School
like teaching you how love somebody
with all that you have
nor can they teach you
how to be famous
and they can't teach you
how to be rich or how to be poor
and most of the time
they will just show you the door
becasuse they will never
teach you how to walk away
from someone
that you loved and who
you thought was
that someone who was sent to you
from above.

They don't teach you
what to say to someone who is dying
or teach you how to stop crying
as you watch them leave
or how to deal with
someone's continuous
lying .

I've done it all starting
with answering the call
for my Country in a meaningless war
that left me with only
trying to find a door
that would lead me out
of my pain and I've been rich
and I've been poor and
all of the dead space in between
and so much I have seen
that I will never forget
and I am still trying to find that door
to my happiness.

Don't judge me if you don't
know a thing about my wants and needs
or I will drop you to your knees
because I have been knocked down
so many times and left for dead
by those who are not very well read
but I keep getting back up
because that is me
and what I do better than anything
so it would seem.

On the down side of this wild ride
of the boomer generation
I try to finish out this ride
as I watch so many dropping
by the wayside but so many are still  
waiting to just turn the page
with no rage.

Never regret anything
that made you smile even if
it only lasted for a very short while
and try to remember that
your happiness is all up
to you.

While humanity sleeps in the night
all I do is write
and my words and my tears
have flooded Valley's without
a single solitary sound
but for me sometimes the Sun shines
but the clouds always seem to return
so I guess I'll just never learn
but I do know that when knowledge
speaks wisdom listens.                                      Jon York              2012

My words flow
like rivers and streams of life
for my soul  that is feeding
my every desire to reveal
stories of old chronicles
of loves and dreams
and tales of being alone
and being together with someone
as the wheels keep turning.

Sometimes I am grateful
for what I am and what I have
because it has not really
been that bad and no run
on my bank can drain it
because my wealth
is not possession but love
and a grateful heart
that is grateful of the people
who have made
me happy.

Sometimes we have to
stumble often to reach the truth
as the wheels go round and round
and like the tides our moods will rise
and our moods will fall
and we must realize
that all of our problems and heartaches
are in truth opportunities in disguise
as the wheels keep turning.

Confidence takes away fear
so we can become
the master of ourselves and laugh
at our mistakes and our burdens
will lighten and we can  not
waste another moment mourning
yesterday's misfortunes
and as the wheel turns
our failures teach us.

What sometimes breaks us
makes us stronger and in the end
our strength is unbreakable
because when we discover that strength
we begin to believe in ourselves
and others begin to believe in us too
as the wheels keep turning.

As I turn from the past
and return to the present
I look into the eyes of love again
knowing that she will be the last
because her eyes focus on the present
and she helps me to let go
of those things that were
very bad in the past
and were not meant
to last.

As nothing grows into something
hope is found and love becomes a condition
in which the happiness of another person
is essential to our own
so all we can do is dare to dream
and believe that our star will guide us
as to which way to go
as the wheels turn ever so slow.                      Jon  York                2012

Love is. . .an obsession, everybody wants it,
everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it
and those who do achieve it will cherish it,
be lost in it, and among all will
never forget it.

Love is. . . the most powerful emotion known,
and one the most important things in life is to
learn is how to give  love and let it come in as
love can heal any wound but equally love
can leave some very painful scars that last a
very long time.

Love is. . .the only satisfactory answer to the
problem of human existence because bad things
happen to us and how we respond to them defines
our character and the quality of our life and we can
choose to sit in sadness, immobilized with pain
from our loss or we can rise above the pain and
treasure the most precious gifts that we have, life
and love.

Love is. . .a puzzle posed by the emotions and
not likely to be solved by reason and it is hard to
get into but even harder to get out of and soon
we realize that there is only one happiness in life
- to love and to be loved and anytime not spent
on love is wasted.

Love is. . .loving without fear, trusting without
questioning, needing without demanding, wanting
without restrictions, accepting without change,
desiring without inhibitions and only time is capable
of understanding how valuable love is.    
                                                                ­            Jon York         2014

I ought not to love you so,

I ought to be ashamed,

I ought to give you up,

Tell you my love has waned,
              --- But ---
I do, --
          I don't,
                     I can't,
                              I won't

 Love is an urchin
    a poor gutter rat
      starved and anemic
        But happy at that
                                                    Jon York 2017

It's still you,                               Miss Me                Time Plays     
It's still you.                               Like Your                 Tricks        
                                                    Losing Me.       On Your Memory

Be you.                                        We're all                      Like Rain
Do you.                                         trying to                        I Fell
For you.                                 forget someone.                For You.


You Left                                       My Love                      I'll Meet
but Still                                          For You                   You Where
you Linger.                             Was Bulletproof.           We Began


Remember When                           I Miss                      Can't Sleep
You Were                                       What We                   Because
my World?                                  Never Had.
                                                            ­                              Something Is
                                                              ­                              Missing.
You'll Always                              You Were
be my                                          My Lifeboat,                  
favorite Almost.                         I Drowned.                She Warned
                                                          ­                                  Me About
                                                           ­                                 Loving Her
I'd Be here                                       It Still
if  She Asked.                                Hurts At
                                                           3  AM                     I warned
                                                                ­                          Her About
                                                           ­                               Loving Me
     I Almost                                    Come And
     Had You                                   Waste Time
     Didn't I?                                     With Me.                 We Exist
                                                           ­                              In Moments
                                                         ­                              Nothing More.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in life, not to change things. Just to feel a couple of things twice.

                                                         ­                            Jon York   2019

The  moon  within  your

eyes swallowed  my sky

and  the  very  fabric  of  

your soul glowed within  

my  heart.


I opened your chest and

tasted   your   soul ;

now my  tongue  drips  

with  moonlight   and

rose petals.


Your  gorgeous  chaos  was

a  danger  to  my  beautifu­l

ordinary life, and it was then

I knew that we might become

beautifully   extraordinary

together.
                                                                ­                        Jon York  2019

Each day is a sentence in the
story of your life and each
day you make the choice of
whether or not that sentence
ends with a period, a question
mark,or an exclamation point,
or even if the sentence is worth
ending at all.

Before you can live a part of
you has to die as you have
to let go of what could have
been and realize that we are
what we are today because
of the choices that we made
yesterday and it doesn't matter
how hard it was to make those
choices,what does matter is
that we did.

Choose thoughts that give
you the emotions of being
alive and excited about life
and know that you are where
you are and that you are who
you are with today because of  
decisions you made yesterday
but also realize that you can
change your tomorrow today.

You cannot change where you
came from but you can change
where you are going and know
that you cannot continue down
the same path that you have
been on if you expect to arrive
at a different destination.

Life is not lived with intentions
but with action and the past
cannot be changed but we must
carry our choices that are  made
in only brief seconds hoping that
we are taking our life in the right
direction that we want it to be  
knowing that we will be paying
for those choices in our remaining
time here.                                        
                                                   Jon York   2018                                                
.

I am so sick of
writing about her
but does my heart hold
hurt and shame from
playing her game?

Are my eyes filled
with tears from what
they have seen
and from so many lies
that they have heard?

I should have never
kissed those lips
or opened my mouth saying
" you are the one,"
and "we will never
come undone."

I should have never
wasted my breath
because together any longer
could have meant
someone's death.

But I can't seem
to get her off my mind
even though the two years
with her were so miserable
and unkind filled
with lies upon lies but in
the final moments I realized
that she was only a detour
and not a dead end
and certainly not a friend
because all that she
could ever do
was pretend.

Failure is a teacher
and maybe just a slight delay
and not a defeat
and it gave me new direction
and next time I won't bring
so much heat
and be a little more discreet
with who I pick
and keep a sharper eye
out for those
low life tricks.

Do my words make me transparent
revealing to readers
what is inside of my head
and what makes me tick...
and failure should teach us
and not be our undertaker
but without the hurt
and without the love
I expierenced there would
be no words
and no poetry.

I am done
being walked all over
and I have picked myself up
and got back on my feet
because that is what I do
better than anything
and why I survive
so don't judge me
as there is so much more to me
than meets your disdaining eye
especially after discovering
that you were just
one big lie.                                  Jon York        2012

Life is a journey
through the past,
living in the present,
facing the future.

People come into our lives,
maybe only for a day,
a month or maybe for
a year or two.

As those paths cross,
there is always a lesson
to be learned no matter
how brief.

One brief moment
can touch you for a
lifetime or may turn
your world upside down.

Love's spell is simple
and timeless, but pain
cripples your course.

Weep and you weep alone,
rejoice and people will see you,
grieve and they turn and go.

Move along even if all is gone,
love again without fear for
the end might be near.

Now you see it, now you don't,
things change so fast and
nothing seems to last anymore.

If you need to cry,
cry out all of your tears,
then you will be able to smile
again and you will be able
to get through it, this time
called life.                                           Jon York     2011

Where do the years go ?
They just go by so fast,
nothing seems to last.

High School, the best years
of your life it seems and
after that they just fly by
in what seems like a flash.
When you are young you
don't look back because
you have no past.

You go to War a boy and
come home a man and
everything has changed.
You are not the same and
you never will be.

You wake up one day,
you have kids and can't
believe they are grown,
you wonder how did
it happen so fast. Now
you have a past and want
what is happening to last.

Nothing lasts you soon discover,
except the love that you have
carried with you for your
parents and others.

Your parents fade away,
a loss you
never thought you would
have to face. You try to put it
out of your mind at all costs,
but when the time comes you
just carry on knowing it was
a necessary loss.

Grandkids appear and you realize
that you are old and wonder
why you were never told that
it would be like this.

You can't stop the years or
the flow of tears as the years
come at you so fast, and then
you realize that it is the same
for everybody, nothing lasts.

You look around and see that
everybody has gotten older,
your kids have kids and you
are a grandfather.

You can't help but wonder,
how did the years get by you
so fast, then you remember
what your mom said, "nothing lasts".
                                                   Jon York

I keep writing about you  
and I wish that
you would just go away
and leave me alone
and just get out of my head
beause it has been seven months
since you chose to walk away
but thoughts of you
are still there
every day.

Maybe the reason
I can't get rid of you
is because of all
of your lies
and my wonder why's
and the fact
that you act as if
I don't even exist
anymore and you
act like we never
even happened.

You didn't really think
I would stop existing when
you walked out of my life
after spending two years
acting like my wife.

When you looked at me
you only saw
what you chose to see
never ever really
trying to see
the real me
and you only saw
that person that
I used to be.

But after meeting you
I became so much more
but that still
didn't stop you from
walking out
that door.  

Happy hunting.                                    Jon York              2012

I celebrate your eyes
because they looked
at me without
restraint or shame,
and since that moment
I have never been
the same.

I celebrate your *******,
for in the darkest night
I could find them and
since that first touch
our love has felt
so right.

I celebrate your tears,
should you cry for
something I have done.

I celebrate the years that
we are together,
as they just seem to
disappear so fast,
but we both know
that this is a love
that will last.

Most of all through
it all I celebrate
the God that gave me
you and asked for
nothing in return.               Jon York     2011

The hours go by like minutes
and the weeks go by like days
as the years keep flying by
and we look at our reflection
and think about the many
things that we could have done
if we had only been able to
stop our minds from wondering
about what we left behind.

I never thought I'd be alone
this far down the line and
sometimes I think that maybe
it was all nothing but wasted time.

So I live from day to day and
dream about tomorrow and wonder
what I am going to say next about
life and its pains and sorrows.

Love has come and love has gone
so many times and in so many
different ways but it never stays
and it always leaves me with so many
rhymes about love and thoughts of
maybe tomorrows.

Seems like happiness is only reserved
for some but we soon discover that
life is really only what we make it and
we learn how to take it and how not
to fake it.

Sometimes in order to keep it together
we have to leave it alone so love
what you have before life teaches
you to love what you lost.
                                                            Jon York     2014

My soul made love  to your soul long
before our bodies   met.   When I first
laid  eye  on you  I   recognized   you.
You  held  my  future  in  your  hands.

Do you really think you have  a choice
in loving someone? The measure will
always be the soul picks who you love
and your heart seals  the  deal.

How   little  choice  we  have   over   such
things when  your heart   knows what  it
wants and your soul knows when it's real.

If   the  universe   sends  you  signs   and
reminders of you and your twin flame,  it  is
asking  you  to  get back into alignment
with  love.

On the  twin flame  journey we're faced
with all of our past darkness as it comes
to  be  released.   Remember  that    the
hopelessness,   the jealously,   the anger,
the sadness and the insecurities about
who we are, they're just energy patterns
along the way.

We are pure  and light, clear the negativity
- experience  the joy of  returning  to  our  
souls  true  essence knowing that you and
I are embers from the same fire, we are
dust from the same star, we are echoes
of the same love.
                                                           ­                            Jon York   2020

Tell yourself. . .to believe yourself and
that pain makes you stronger, tears make
you braver, and heartbreak makes you
wiser and tell yourself that a moment of
patience in a moment of anger will save
you a hundred moments of regret.

Tell yourself. . .that everything will work
out and that you are strong and that you
can do this thing called life and tell yourself
that the past is a place of reference and not
a residence and remember to tell yourself
to thank the past for a better future.

Tell yourself. . .to stop looking for happiness
in the same place that you lost it and tell
yourself to never let the things you want
make you forget the things that you have
and know that it is not about having time,
it is about making time.

Tell yourself. . .to do what is right, not what
is easy knowing that Neverland is not a place
but that it is a state of mind and tell yourself
that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional
and tell yourself to be thankful for all of the
troubles that you don't have.

Tell yourself. . .that it is what it is, accept it and
move on because even at your worst, you are
incredible and tell yourself to embrace reality
even if it burns you and tell yourself to finish
each day and be done with it knowing that you
only are responsible for what you say and not
what others understand.

Believe what you tell yourself.
                                                           Jon York       2016

If I was asked to go
to war for my County
I'd do it again,
even knowing what it
did to me in the end,
I would go through that
door once again.

If false love and lies
showed up at my door
again in the guise of
an Angel asking me for
help and love and giving
me only lies, I'd do it again,
even knowing of the pain
and heartache she would
bring me in the end,
I would still try to be her
friend and I'd do it again
and try to pretend.

If giving a person all of
your heart and soul while
she takes it apart and rips
in it a big hole, I do it again
because it hurt so good
even knowing her feelings
were hard as wood.

If I had life to live over,
I'd probably follow the
same path of all of the
sorrow and pain, only
hoping to gain knowledge
of my purpose here because
the time I have spent here
has been so dear.                               Jon York   2011

Welcome to the rest of your life
and try to remember
that the future is always uncertain
and that the end may
always be near so hold on
to what you hold to be dear
because when it is your time
it is your time
and you will be gone
like a good rhyme.

Get rid of the pain
from people and things
that you thought were here
to stay but only seemed to last
in what seemed like just a
few short days.

Forget about that love
that you gave but was not returned
and all of those dreams
that passed before your eyes
and for which you
so yearned.

People and things quickly
become the past so enjoy them
while they are here
because so fast you look up
and they are gone
and you didn't even get a chance
to say "so long."

If you don't know where you are going
any road will get you there
so choose carefully the path you take
and avoid those traps
you were caught in before
and know that there is always
so much more then what
meets the eye.

Realize that it is better
to have given too much than
not enough because
in the end all you will do
is lose or make a friend
and you don't have
to pretend.                                          Jon York                  2012

So many words looking for a home
or just a page to rest upon
or a rhyme to complete or a poem
that they can call home
as they look forward to the beauty
of the next moment or the next hour
and as they sink roots
into the present
their strength grows
as they think about
tomorrow.

Sometimes the world is just
too loud for these ears
that sometimes hear words
that don't need to be said
and stories that don't
need to be told
along with lies that others
thought that they
could hide.

Some things  aren't meant
to be heard and upon hearing
these things it sometimes
makes me wish
that I was deaf to
the world.

I would
rather give up
hearing those sweet
sounds like those
that lovers make
in the pre-dawn hours
of the night than
to be assaulted
by things that I never
wanted to hear.

As the world goes by
I stand before it
smiling and loving because
I have laid naked and bared my soul
and quenched my dreams
and lost my pride
beside so many
while deep inside
always true.

Again I rise out of the ashes
ready to face the world again
enslaved by poetry
and reading endless poems
and writing happy ever afters
about true love
and the one.

When I am done
I am brought back to the real world
of disappointments and cheaters
but know that if I seek
not outside that I will find
that heaven is within.

This time I found love
and my own heaven
that is here to stay
and that is all that
I need to say.

Know the value of love
and don't be tormented
by things out of your control
and know that people
will forget what you said
and forget what you did
but will never forget
how you made
them feel.
                                             Jon  York       2013

Dear 2019,
                      Please be kind.
                      The only thing I am wishing for is:
                      to be happy.
                       I am going to take time to heal.
                       I am going to learn( You never quit
                       learning no matter the age ).

2019 will be a year of complete  surrender  to  who I
once  was  and  who I want to be and  this  will  be a
year I  stop putting  off  prioritizing me. I  will  take
time  for myself and that doesn't mean taking baths
and eating healthy. ( but I still intend to eat healthy ).
I  am  going to  start  focusing  on  bettering   myself.
This  means  exercise  in  whatever  form I   like  best,
pushing  myself,  managing  my time  and  saving  
money  for  my  future.

( YES, a 70 year man DOES  have a future, at least this
one DOES and you can bet on that! )

My future is so bright, I have to wear sunglasses at night.
I am going to fall in love with taking care of myself, fall
in love with the path of deep healing, and fall in love with
becoming  the  best version of  myself  with  patience, with
respect for my own journey.

My SPECIAL THANKS and compassion and respect go
to those special friends, relatives,and loved ones who know
me, know what I have been through and am going through
(a war I am still fight in my head ) and how I have suffered,
they all loved me enough  to witness and feel my pain and
get me to 2019 in good health.
(you know who you are).  THANK YOU        Jon York   2018

Some days remembered
are so dark
that I never want to
remember them and some days
are happy as a lark
making me wish that
they would last forever
and forget them
I could never.

Try to  realize that
every moment of your life
is the most important moment
so know that no future time
is better than now to let down
your guard and love.

Pride says "it's risky"
as reason says "it's pointless"
but the heart whispers "give it a try"
and sometimes you will have to cry
upon recalling those
days remembered.

Some days remembered are amazing
and some days are happy
and some are sad and some
are amazing happy and sad
all at the same time
so just be glad that you
are human.

Having had some fun
and blessed beyond belief
to have made it this far
I guess what I am still
looking for is a little relief
instead of feeling
like a thief because
my poetry speaks volumes
about some very ugly
parts of my life that
were filled with much strife
and emotions so thick you
could cut them
with a knife.

I 've had some fun
matching wits
with lost love dimwits
and playing their love games
that just left me lame
but with lots of
days remembered and
a knowing that
what sometimes breaks us
makes us stronger
and gives us the power
to go on for just a little longer
as we recall those days
remembered.       Jon  York         2013

If
          it Ever
           Was
              It
         Always
              Is.    
                                    ­                                                             Jon York   2019

If only. . .
we didn't look at our broken pasts like shattered glass
we didn't let those prior pains ******* our current course
we could forgive those that inflicted the pain whether intentional or not
we could forget the past and make the present last.

If only. . .
we could laugh at all of needless hate that comes to us
we could realize that love is eternal
we could understand that love is fighting, not a war but for every second more, every instant worth fighting for.

If only. . .
we didn't always have to pretend to be strong
we could cry if we need to and we could cry out all of our tears
we didn't have to prove all of the time that every thing is okay
we always knew what to say in those difficult times
we could be at peace with who we are not
we didn't need to build walls around our hearts to survive and to keep alive

If only. . .
we could take our grief and teach it to smile
we could overcome our fears and help others to do the same
we knew that tomorrow's hope means more to us than yesterday's mistake
we could realize that splendor is just around the corner
we knew that love will again come our way some day.

If only. . .
she knew that I was so happy that she finally found me
she knew how happy I am to have found her
she knew tha from the moment I saw her face, somehow my heart just knew what I had to do
I were a thought I would linger in her mind
she knew that she is tomorrow's hope
I could be anywhere, it would be with her

If only. . .
she knew she is beautiful and doesn't need a mirror to tell her that
she knew that her voice is the sweetest music for me
she knew that I can understand her without any words
she knew that she was made to be loved by me
she knew how much she inspired me
she knew that she saved my life.

If only, . .
we could finish every day and be done with it
we could realize that yesterday is dead and tomorrow hasn't arrived
we could begin each day well and serenely with too high a spirit to be cumbered with old nonsense
we knew we have today and can be happy in it
we knew that love cures people, both those who give it and those who receive it

If only. . .                                                                ­              
everyone knew that whether it is praise, love, criticism, money, time, power, punishment, space, sorrow, laughter, need, pain, or pleasure... the more you give the more of it, the more you will receive.

If only. . . . . . . . . .                                                                ­                                                        
                                                                ­                                                                 ­        Jon York            2012

back then. . .
so young and so full of life as
I tried to have as much fun as
I could with so many lovers
that came and went like night
and day as so many wanted my
love but I couldn't stay because
it just wasn't my way but I learned
from those mistakes and was able
to find the causes of my problems
and eliminate them.

back then. . .
I didn't know where to begin or if
it would ever end so I just didn't
pretend because life isn't like the
movies where everybody wins and
my words come from within while
some from real dark places I have
been in and some ugly faces I have
seen in what sometimes feels like
a dream.

back then. . .
I was sharp and tight just looking
for a fight when I was a soldier
making one those many one-shot
one -**** missions that I was so good at
or trying to hold a useless hill in a war
no one wants to remember but will
never let go.

and now. . .
I write my thoughts in an attempt
to escape those demons that invade
my head and want me dead and it
is day to day hoping that I will be
given just one more heart to hold
and just one more night to get it right
with just one more lover to get me
through another night.

and now. . .
I have learned to be here now
because now is all that we have
and when you are here, you are
here and when you are gone, you
are gone so you have to realize
that it isn't a problem to be gone
as long as you are really here
when you are here.

but now. . .
if I were to leave and never come back
no one would care for real love seems
now so rare and it just seems to be
hit and miss...sadness then bliss all at
the whim of the mind but now if
things go wrong I don't quit but I stick
to the fight nor do I give up though
the pace seems slower because who
knows I might succeed with just one
more blow and it is no longer for show.      
                                                               Jon  York       2013