Take time to do what
makes you happy
knowing that life is
the art of drawing
without an eraser.

Just wash away
from the soul the
dust of everyday life
and console those
who are broken by
life and know that
some days you just
have to create your
own sunshine.

Sometimes the reason
good things are not
happening to you is
because you are the
good thing that needs
to happen to other
people so remember
that tomorrow is just
another day.

Be ready come what
may and know if you
should never see
tomorrow there will
be no cause for sorrow
because you made the
most of each day while
you were here and if
you don't understand
I can't explain.
                                          Jon   York    2016

You have
                   everything
                   you need.
          Choose to EVOLVE.
                Choose LOVE.
           You  have  a  choice:
            EVOLVE or REMAIN
                UNCHANGED.
                  If you choose
                    to remain
                   unchanged,
        you will be presented
   with  the   same  CHALLENGES,
              the same old ROUTINE,
              the same STORMS,
              the same SITUATIONS,
       until  you  learn  from  them,
                until you actually
       love  yourself  enough  to say,
                      "no more,"
     until  If you choose CHANGE.
                 If you choose to
                      EVOLVE,
           you will connect with  the  
   STRENGTH  within  you, you will
                 explore what goes on
           OUTSIDE your comfort zone.
      You  will  awaken  to  LOVE, you will
                 become LOVE,
            you  will  be  LOVE,
       so EVOLVE and choose LOVE.
                                                           ­                       Jon York   2019

I write because I hurt,
I write because
I'd rather not bleed.
                                                                                          Jon York    2019

Never accept the things that you
cannot change, just change the
things you cannot accept and as
you begin to find out what is real
you begin to realize that nothing
is as perfect as you imagine it to be.

Somewhere in my mind just now,
as I write these words, run all of
good tines and the bad times so
fast I could hardly see them yet I
can call back any one of them and
and describe them in finest detail.

In my words I express my faith in
life, my conscience, my hopes, my
loves and my attempts to understand
what is and and what has been going
on in the world that surrounds me
and may you find inspiration and
warmth in my words.

Looking out at the road passing
under my wheels, I can't tell you all
how crazy this life feels but as a writer
I try to look at my poems from a new
perspective, turning tragedy into
tenacity and in my creativity I allow
myself to make mistakes, but the art
of it is just knowing which ones to keep.

Understand life backwards but live it
forwards knowing that once great
wrongs are done it is rarely possible to
undo them so cultivate your powers of
recuperation and restoration and even
the darkest night will end and the sun
will rise again.

Life provides the contours and we as
poets provide the shading and color
and you will find that as the years pass
you by you will become more creative
and make fewer mistakes because you
become aware that your days are
numbered and that nothing remains
the same in the game of life.

Know that habit is your constant
companion,your greatest helper, or
your heaviest burden and it will push
you onward or drag you down to
failure, but always know that it is
always at your command as half of
the tasks you do are done by habit
quickly and correctly, so be firm with
it and show it exactly how you wish
things done and after a few lessons
habit will do it automatically.
                                             Jon York   2017

You and I were  just an almost  time and time
and time again. I begged the world to stop so
for  once, even  for a moment we could be  so
much more than a possibility.

A million possibilities we could have been but
in the end we were just stardust and magic inside
this vast space because the universe craved us.

If I close my eyes I can feel you upon my flesh, inside
the depths of my soul. I could feel you in every breath
that filled my lungs and in every beat of my heart.

I used to write you into my poetry and I'd let every
curve of your body fill my fingertips and lust became
my ink. I would lay you down gently across my blank
pages so you would be mine for eternity.

The most beautiful words aren't just written but traced
upon delicate flesh and hummed gently into the soul.
You were the poetry that spilled from my pen and satisfied
those blank pages but now I listen as silence fills my lungs,
waiting for time to softly whisper and fill my flesh with memories.
                                                      
                                                                                             Jon York  2022

The words they come from
somewhere in my mind
like a beautiful breeze blowing
wind in your face or like a smile
that only takes a moment
and costs nothing but gives much,
like a memory that lasts forever.

Don't take your eyes off love's
swift feet even for a second,
because if you do you'll find
yourself in a field of lonesomeness
and know that it is in loving that the heart
finds its quest and it is in giving, not getting,
that our lives are best.

I've climbed to the top
of the mountain and touched
the dew on the morning rose
and witnessed the beauty of nature
and bathed in that beauty and as
my memory runs over those yesterdays
knowing that the only way
I can ever go back,
is the way I just did,
back into the fast-fading
thoughts of an old mind.

When I was young I was
full of fun, learning of life,
living each hour fast and free,
almost as if each were my last
and later, still young but a veteran
of an ugly war that changed me forever,
I knew just enough about life
to regard it more valuable
than before.

Involved in many of life's mysteries
of serving causes or friends,
both of which become
more dangerous with time,
made some of my actions
feel like a crime,
somewhere in my mind.

But I continue and I am still alive
knowing that love is so much more
than an empty desire and beauty
is also so much more than
the new that fades away
so fast.                                                  Jon York             2013

We either embody power
or crave it and sometimes
things just happen and there's
nobody to blame, so just
keep playing the game
and start living and find
something to be
happy about.

Experience as much as you can
and have fun while learning
from your mistakes
and try to find the causes
of your problems and eliminate them
while remembering
that nobody is perfect and that
we all make mistakes because
we are only human.

Be here now because
now is all you have
and when you are here,
you are here and when
you are gone, you are gone,
so don't dwell on problems
that don't really exist
and you will be transformed
into living fully while you are here,
so just be here now.                            Jon  York        2013

You may not have all of me,
for all I cannot give.

But you can have the part
of me only you know
was hid.

You reached inside my
darkness and gave me back
my light.

You gave to me so easily
and held me through the
night.

You washed away the
doubts I had with every
gentle kiss.

And brought the kind of
passion I never knew I
missed.

You may not have all of me
for all of me I cannot give.

But you can have the part
of me that no one ever did.                                            Jon York   2019

The feelings that I try
so hard to hide are always
able to escape in my poetry
and in those words
I am naked to the world
and  there I cannot lie.

I open my heart hoping
that readers will see the vastness
of  my own insignificance
hoping that my words
have the power to
change someone for
the better.

My poetry is usually written
single draft as a means
of expressing emotion-in-the-moment
and I allow the words to flow
watching where
they go.

Don't compare my life to others
because sometimes life isn't fair but
it is still good so make peace with your past
so it won't ***** up your present
and know that everything changes
in the blink of an eye.

However good or bad something is
know that it will change
and you will be loved not
because of something you did
or didn't do.

Come to realize that
growing old beats the alternative
-dying young and miracles are waiting
everywhere as the words
that I have to offer the world
always find their way
out of me.                            Jon York        2013

You are. . . .
kisses so sweet and the love that you lay at my feet
my sun and my moon as we make love until noon
the ache in my heart when we are apart
the endless longing as I count each day.

You are. . . .
the pounding of my heart as I taste your *******
the chills I get when you touch my chest
the thrill in my heart when you say yes
the pride that I take in how far we have come
the faith that I have in how far we can go.

You are. . . .
the poems that I write in the middle of the night
the feelings that I get because I know that it is right
the answer to all of my desires
the sounds I love to hear when we make love
my endless aching need
my gift from above.

You are. . . .
the wind in my sails
the cure for what ails
the love of my life
a heart so very nice
the reason that I can finally smile
the reason that I can finally live my dream.

You are. . . .
my reality and the real truth
my final journey and my last love
the answer to my prayers
someone who really cares.                     Jon  York    2013

once I knew. . .
wonderful nights in the month of June,
a breeze softly blowing, a tender moon,
the perfume of roses sweet in the air,
the stillness of your beauty
so perfect so rare.

long drives with you
beneath starlet skies
as I drank deeply and eagerly
of the love in your eyes
whispering tender words
vowing you were mine.

but now. . .
I find the loneliness of nights
filled with dreams of you
and I, wonder, always wondering
if you miss me too
and I wonder if something
about the moon each night
brings me worries poignant
and a teardrop bright.

I played the game
and I staked my heart and lost
but the game wasn't fair
with convention the cost
and you did what you thought
was right.

I knew it and yet
my heart broke
and it seems
I never forget.

Would we be parted know...
had things not been so
or did you really love me,
I'll never know.     Jon York       2013

The trouble is you think you
have time but you soon discover
one day that it is all gone and
in the end your only regret
is the chances you didn't take.

People just want to feed their
egos, so feed your ego, I am
busy being driven by passion,
seized by obsession, delighted
by creation, enthralled with
expression, entranced by vision,
diverted by daydreams, filled
with emotion, fueled by
compulsion, consumed
with beauty, and blindsided
by inspiration.

Everything is going to be ok in
the end, so they say, and if it's
not ok, it is not the end I guess,
because sometimes when things
are falling apart, they may
actually be falling into place.

Find that place where there is
joy and the joy will burn out
the pain so just stay inspired.
                                                    Jon York      2016

I am a traveler
of both time and space
and a descendent
of the gentle race of poets,
writers and artists
whose job it is to take others
on a journey through
time and space with the powers
of imagination and expression
using a tender pleasing
quality.

With my words and paintings
I can be painfully sharp
to the emotions and senses
or deeply moving and stinging
pointed and piercing to the point
as I take you deep into the depths
of your own personal Hell
or into your own personal Heaven
with the stroke of a pen
or the stroke of a brush
on a canvas.

It is a powerful gift
few possess but also
an endless torment
because so many words
screaming in our head
just wanting to be read
and sometimes the noise
in our heads is so loud
but we are proud
to have this ability
to take others on a trip
through time and space
and helping others to
stay in the race.

As artists we sometimes
may grow weary
of so much travel
of time and space
but this is our place
and what we do best
so we just write and paint
letting our creations rest
for others to see while
hoping to be set free.                  Jon  York            2013

Don't
           forgive and forget.
           Remember   and
                    recover.
               ( Healthy Self )
                 Heal thy self
                    I'm not
                telling you
                  it's going
                  to be easy,  

             I'm telling you
                 it's going
                     to be
                  worth it.
Put your broken pieces back together differently and learn to love the sound of your feet walking away from things not meant for you.

              Make broken
                       look
                  beautiful
                       and
                     strong
                       look
                  invincible.

                 Walk with
                the universe
                  on your
               shoulders &
           make it look like a
                      pair
                  of wings.                                                  Jon York   2019

They say time heals everything
and it's been so long
since she has been gone
and when I woke up this morning
I finally decided that
the pity party was over

I finally realized what a ****
I had been to shed so many tears
for just two lousy lost years
with her.

I finally realized that
what I had been crying over was
simply one big lie and today
I realized that she was never worth
any of those tears for those two
stupid years with her.

Wasted tears were shed because I
know now that she would just as soon
see me dead beause of
issues that
she refused to address.

These issues that for one reason
or another she chose to not share with me,
but what she didn't know is
that I could see.  

She was never truthful with me
but the crying has finally stopped
and I must thank her for all of the pain
that was for nothing but her
own personal gain .

I am sure that she is happy now
and I wish her the best but she needs to know
that the saddest part of her little game
was not all of her lies,
but the fact that she never thought
that I was worth being told the truth
and because of that I will
never be the same.

It was her choice to walk out
that front door but she needs to know
that I just don't think about
her anymore.  .......................       Jon York      2012

The book of life is
so brief and once a page is read
all but love is dead
and her love is my guiding light
that is revealed to me
in the darkest of nights
and it reminds me
of those happy and loving times
about which I write rhymes.

I close my eyes just
for a moment and the moments
gone and all of my dreams
pass before my eyes a curiosity
and I realize that all or most
of the past hurt and pain
will eventually fade away
and be gone someday
but I still have to wonder why
we all have to live and
die .

She came to me
almost like a dream
this beautiful lady with thoughts
just for me which
sets my spirits free
and I no longer let evening
get me down now
that she is around.

In my book of life
so many pages read and all
of them are gone
and all but love is dead
and I know how loveless
life can sometimes be
as shadows followed me
and the night wouldn't
set me free but now
that her love is here
I am free because
I love her so
and to me she is
so dear.        
                                           Jon York             2013

The ocean
                           is
              everything  she
                 wants to be,
         beautiful, mysterious,
                 wild and free.

                  She was given
                       this  life
             because she is strong
                enough to live it.

                       One day,
                  we  will  never  
                        have to
                   say  goodbye,
                 only   goodnight.

                           She is
                   soft and doesn't
                          let  the
                          world
                   make  her  hard.

                              She
                        doesn't let
                pain make her hate
                    and she will
                            never
                      let bitterness
                            steal
                     her sweetness.
                                                                                       Jon York   2019

Wake up
        hug a dog
        have a
        good day.      

          Be the
         person
        your dog
          thinks
         you are.
                                                                                               Jon York   2019

It seems that all my life from place to place I go
like a rolling stone, no moss and no face,
as the ladies just come and go,
leaving without a trace as though
I was drifting through an endless space
of this time called life.

And oh what a magical, mystical trip it has been
and I have no idea when it will end
so all I do is wish on a four leaf clover hoping
that I will be given more time to experience one
more love and the many gifts
it has to offer before
it is over.

Yes, there has been much hurt and much pain
but that is all just part of the game
and we have to realize
that there are always two sides to everything
that happens and where there is good
there is bad and where there is happy
there is sad and this is a fact
no one can escape.

I know that I am approaching
the end of my journey
and that it could come at any second
or at any hour, on any day of the week,
or even as I speak and if it does
this is what I had to say on this warm
wonderful day while living
this time called life.

And I am grateful for the many loves
that have come my way making
this ride a little easier and I am grateful
to have been blessed with long healthy life  
and the ability to write about it
and all of its ups and downs, smiles and frowns,
devils and clowns.

Of course I am sad that I am alone
in these remaining years but the other side of that
is I won't have to shed any tears
watching a love fade away
and disappear or watch as tears
are shed for me as the years go by
and my health may
fade away.

But it isn't over yet and I still have
a long way to go, and a lot of love
left to show so for now
I stay busy living and
with my words I keep giving.                                            Jon York      2013

Do You know....the last time I was
excited to wake up was when you
were in my life.

The  last  time  I  felt  like  life  had  
wonder,or  exc­itement or  happiness  
to  it.....
--- was  when  you were  in  my life.

It's  like --- no  matter  the  weather
---   every  day  feels  like  winter.

And I keep waiting for summer to
comeback,  but  it  never  does.

Most  things feel out  of place these
days,  especially  me.

My  thoughts  were  destroying me.  
I tried  not  to think, but  the silence  
was a  killer too. I was murdered by
my own mind.

      But  I've  changed  irrevocably,
permanently.  My  soul  is   richer
and  my and my heart  is  fuller  in
brokenness than  it was without. I've
learned  true despair, and  it's made  
me  learn  to  appreciate   true  joy.

                                                     ­                            Jon York   2019

My words will pass and and be forgotten
but what counts for me is
that I write them.

The longer I live the more my mind dwells
upon the beauty and the wonder of the world
and the more I learn to see beauty and goodness everywhere
and the more I realize that the
joy of life is to love.

Old age will come and it is not always kind
but know that this day will not come around again
and know that every day is a new beginning
so find the strength and the courage
that lies within because it takes strength to love
and it takes courage to be loved as well as
it takes strength and courage to live.

Don't find fault with the man who limps or stumbles
along the road of life unless you have worn
the shoes he wears or struggled
beneath his load.

A spark of loneliness, a memory, a tilted smile,
these things bring tears to my eyes and deep inside
these silent tears flow to that secret place in my soul
and I would rather have one pleasant word in kindness
said to me than flattery when my heart is still and
my life on earth has ceased to be.

But right now I write these words and go day by day
trying just to find something more to say
and too soon my words will pass and be forgotten
but I keep writing them on this day because
this is what I do and that is just my way.            Jon York            2013

Self-respect is so hard to come by sometimes
knowing that we cannot buy it because it is
never for sale and it cannot be fabricated
out of public relations either.

Self-respect comes to us when we are alone,
in quiet moments, in quiet places, when
we suddenly realize that knowing the good,
we have done it and knowing the beautiful,
we have served it, and knowing the truth,
we have spoken it.

Blowing out someone else s candle doesn't
make ours shine brighter or give us any
self-respect so finish every day and be done
with it and press on because nothing
can take the place of persistence so make
it work and discover your world realizing
that seldom does an individual exceed
his own expectations.

Know that the best thing you can do
is the right thing, and the next best thing
you can do is the wrong thing but the
worst thing you can do is nothing.

so know that powerful minds always
encounter opposition from simple minds
and if we believe in ourselves self- respect
will follow in our world and we can
stand tall in a big world where we
feel so small.
                                                  Jon York    2015


         Jon York         2015

No matter what
life throws at you the main
thing that you have to do
is just keep on living despite.

Things come at me everyday
thanks to combat in a far away war
that took place so many years ago
but guess what?

I am here to stay
and to help matters I write about it
in a poem to honor those
who didn't make it home
and to those who still
feel so alone.

Hurt and pain from lost loves
pry at my brain every waking minute
so I just decided that
I must keep on living despite
because there really is
no other way.

So many people will try
to break you with their lies
and mind games but once you
get past the pain and hurt
with them you break all ties.

I don't know if I can ever
love again because my trust
grows so  thin but love
always seems to find a way
and maybe next time
love will stay.

But you need to know
that I will just keep living
for another day despite what
others have to say.

It is never too late
to be whoever you want to be
so know that you can change
or stay the same in this
crazy game of life despite
what is happening to you
at the present and me I just sit here
trying to find a rhyme.

Find the strength to start again
but just keep on living despite
and know that the only person
that you are destined to be
is the person that you
decide to be.                       Jon York                  2012

No matter what you step in
keep walking along
and stay strong and sing
your own song because life
is beauty so let us admire it
and life is sometimes a dream
so let us realize it and let
us dare it.

The road might get rough
if somebody calls your bluff
or you decide that
you have had enough of
other peoples unreal
stuff.

Just keep moving along
singing your own song
no matter what others say
and sometime you  will have
your day.

Our day is here
and I feel your presence
and I can feel your touch
and as I close my eyes to the darkness
I can feel your heart beating
next to mine as you
wrap yourself around me
one more time.  

Happiness is up to us
and we may run, walk,
stumble, drive or fly
but let us never lose sight
of the reason why
we take this journey
or miss our chance
to see a rainbow
along the way.

For as long as you love me
I'll only love you
and as long as forever
my love will be true
for where there is love
there is life and you know
that we will sing
our own song.        Jon   York          2012

Feelings
              that come
                  back
             are feelings
                   that
               never left.

                  Love
                 led me
                    all
                the way
                   back
                  to you.

                    And
                 I'm still
               convinced
                    that
                 the rest
                      of
                  my life
                    looks
                     like
                     you.
                                                                                 Jon York   2019

Be the person
   your dog
     thinks
    you are.

One of the greatest challenges we face
is how to use our emotions as a key
for attaining success in life,
so learn to understand your emotions,
and then master them.

the three things that we desire most in life,
happiness, freedom, and peace of mind,
can be obtained by giving them
to someone else and know that happiness
is not in our circumstances
but in ourselves..

choose to have enough happiness
to make you sweet, enough trials
to make you strong, enough sorrow
to keep you human and enough hope
to make you happy and do what
makes you happiest knowing that
if you look to others for fulfillment
you will never be fulfilled.

imagine that every person in the world
is enlightened but you and that they
are all your teachers, each doing
just the right thing to help you learn
perfect patience,, perfect wisdom,
perfect compassion, as you learn
that the secret of happiness is the
realization that life is a gift,
not a right.                                 Jon York          2013

Love is a story
that never gets old because
time doesn't exist with love
only clocks exist and once
you change the way
you look at things
the things you are looking at
change.

I am an old man
and have seen  
known and felt many troubles
but most of them didn't really
need to happen so know
that life is not always fair
but that it is still
good.

Life isn't about finding yourself
life is about creating yourself
so understand those changes
taking place in your mind and body
and above all be kind and know
that in every living thing
there is the desire
for love.

Be yourself because everyone else
is already taken and speak the truth
even if your voice starts shaking
knowing that risks must be taken
because one of the greatest
hazards in life is to
risk nothing.

As I mark my words in prmanent ink
I can see that I am so much more
than people think and as I wander
through this lifetime
with the years flying by
I can't help but wonder why
I am still here and if I knew
no telling what I might
possibly do.

Because life is full of misery
loneliness and suffering
and it is all over much too soon
I feel so deeply I can't describe it
and sometimes I am so overwhelmed
that it becomes hard to breathe
so I changed the way I look at things
and I find that those things
I am looking at have changed and
it sets me free.                              Jon York          2013

You gotta feel the earth
with your bare feet and the wind
in your hair and you gotta feel
the tears that you weep
that you thought were sorrowful
but were in truth tears
of delight because
the deeper your sorrow cuts
into your heart the more
joy it can contain.

Each morning the world
opens to you a new door
whether you have succeeded
or failed or just coasted along
and life begins anew
every day.

Be as kind as you can
and love all, even those
happy to see you fall
because by doing this what
you leave behind
will serve future generations
even if they are
just words.

Embrace your accomplishments
and keep your good thoughts
alive and always keep
a smile on your face and a smile
in your heart.

The journey that we take
only begins with where
we are right now
and success belongs to those of us
who dare to try to win
because love is what
we are born with and fear is
what we learn.

In starting a new journey
it seems that we  might
have so much to lose but
at the same time we have so much
to gain and to be able to experience
love in ourselves and others
is the meaning of life and
you gotta love it.                       Jon York                                 2012

Apparently
              when  you  treat
                  people like
               they  treat  you,
                        they
                   get  upset.

           People will provoke
                   you  until
                         they
                   bring  out
                your ugly side.
                   Then  play
                       victim
                 when you go
                        there.

                   You need you,
                          more
                      than  you
                         need
                   them. Trust me.

                          Don't
                    blame people
                           for
               disappointing you.
                           Blame
            yourself for expecting
                        too much
                       from  them.
                                                                                             Jon York   2019

Don't expect
people to
change and
know that
common sense
is a flower that
doesn't grow
in everyone's
garden and
know that a
persons actions
will tell you
everything
you need to
know.

Some people
are like clouds;
when they
disappear, it's
a beautiful day
and my only
regret is that I
didn't tell
enough people
to *******.
        Jon York     2016

All we really want in these later years
is more cheers as we become
more grateful for each morning
that we wake up and we just keep hoping
for one more day or one more month
or maybe one more year or maybe two
or three or four because we are not ready
to exit that final door.

It's amazing out there so don't
mind what happens as we all will  
encounter many defeats,
but we will not be defeated
knowing that we can't go back
and start a new beginning
but we can start today
and make a new ending.

Find the courage to embrace dreams,
the strength to sacrifice for them
and the determination to fulfill them
knowing that kindness, beauty,
and truth can show us the way
time after time and give us
the courage to face life
for one more day.

Everybody wants to go to Heaven,
but nobody wants to die
so don't give up and don't give in
because there is always an answer
for everything.

No one lives in perfection
and tomorrow is a new untarnished day
so start it with something good to say
about your stay here and the life
you hold to be so dear.

Realize that nothing will ever change
until your pain of remaining the same
outweighs the pain of changing
so don't let the world bring you
to your knees and start each new day
as you please or it will pass you by
like a warm Summer breeze.        Jon York      2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

After observing
and experiencing rude
and hurtful behavior
of so many I can judge
those people or I can
love them but I can't
do both at the
same time.

Know that there is love
in your heart and it isn't
really love until you
give it away and it doesn't
matter how you love,
it matters only that
you do love.

Have the capacity to create
to overcome, to endure,
to transform, and to be greater
than your suffering.

This time on earth called life
has been such an amazing
journey for me and there
are still so many miles to go
and still so many things
to learn and still so
much to see.

The longer I live
the more my mind dwells
upon the beauty
and the wonder of the world
and the more that I learn
to see beauty and goodness
everywhere the more I begin
to know that the real
joy of life is to love.                              Jon York         2013

You are
every breath
that I take
and you are every beat
of my heart
and I knew this
from the start
as I lay there
with your head on my chest
and your arm
around my shoulder with
you running your fingers
through my beard
and I can't help but wonder
how did I ever
win your love.

Your taste so sweet
as I cup your beautiful *******
in my hands and
I begin to taste your body
and sway to the music
of your ecstatic ******* moans
I realize that you are
all I ever needed.

All that really matters now
is that we have found
each other and we just
don't want to let go
as we both hope
that this time
that we have together
in each others arms
in these remaining years
will go oh
so slow.                          Jon  York        2013

Does the sun promise to shine?

No,but it will, even behind the
darkest clouds it will,
and no promise will make it
shine longer or brighter,

for that is its fate, to burn
UNTIL IT CAN BURN NO
MORE

So is to love you forever my
promise to you?
No, but my love for you will
remain even in on the darkest
of nights, and no promise could
make it grow stronger or last
longer,
for it is my fate for my love
for you to burn  UNTIL I CAN
BURN NO MORE.

                                                          ­          Jon York   2018

Some people are unreasonable,
illogical, miserable, self centered,
egotistical, liars, and vain
and some are insane
and don't even know it,
love them anyway.

If you do good people
will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives,
and will not acknowledge you
or thank you
for what you did for them,
do good anyway.

If you are successful
you will make false friends
and true enemies and jealously
will surround them,
succeed anyway.

The good you do today
will be forgotten tomorrow
and that will cause you much sorrow,
do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness
make you vulnerable and will cause
you to lose many 'friends',
be honest and frank
anyway.

What you spend years building
and working to achieve
may be destroyed
and be gone in the blink of an eye
and don't worry
you won't die if
all they could do is
cheat on you and lie,
build anyway.

Sometimes people will
really need your help but
will attack you if you
try to give them that help,
help people anyway.

Give the World
the best you have
and you will
get kicked in the teeth but
it's all right ,
give the World the best
that you have
anyway.                                                         ­  Jon York                        2012

We're   like   Cocoa
             and marshmallows:

                 Your   hot  and  I
              want  to  be  on top of
               you.
                               and
                   It  tastes  so  good
            because I've  been waiting
                   for  it for so long.
                                                           ­                         Jon York   2019

It is here and gone,
in the blink of an eye.
We live and then we die,
in between there are times
we hold so dear, but we know
that death is always near.

Sometimes life just goes so
slow, other times it moves
way too fast, and nothing
ever seems to last.

When we are young, we
want to be older. As we age,
we wish things would slow
down a bit, and we want to
be young again.

Time is like vapor in the air,
here one second, gone the next,
and you can never get it back,
no matter how hard you long.

When you are here, live life
while you can, be thankful
for today, because there is no
certainty that there will be
a tomorrow.

Learn to love as if there were
no tomorrow, enjoy what you
have, be it little or big because
we don't know  how long it may
last. Time just goes so fast.

We blink and forty years is gone,
our kids are grown, with kids of
their own. Our parents are gone
and we wonder, "did I say goodbye"?

Our youth is out the window, and
we sit and wonder, " how did I miss
all of those years", but we always
seem to remember the tears.
And we wish that we had known
that it would be like this.

We try to look at what we did,
while we were here, and look
around us to see what we hold dear,
and think what  could have been,
if things had been more clear.

Whether we lose or win, it is very
clear that we will never be here again.

Love like there is no tomorrow,
for there is no certainty  the
sun will rise, or you will be
here to see it.

Realize that what we are doing
right now is all that we have.
Savor it and live life while you can.

Enjoy the present, forget the past,
make what you have now last,
because it just goes away so fast.
                                                           ­  Jon York

It took so long. . . .
to finally come alive
to find my way back from the darkness
to crawl out of the hole that I buried myself in
to finally see light again
to finally start getting it right

It took so long. . . . .
to just open my eyes
to get back some self respect
to discover the real truth
to rid myself of those who were never real

It took so long. . . .
to not throw stones anymore
to learn how to climb over those stones and build with them
to see that the answers were right in front of me
to discover that I was just too blind to see

It took so long. . . .
to understand all of the words in my head
to put  my words down on paper so they can be read
to realize my purpose here
to not really care if people stare beause they know what I did while over there
to be really proud of my service in a lost war
to finally realize the score and just walk out that door

It took so long. . . .
for her to finally find me
for me to finally find her
to realize the happiness and growth that occured along the way
to finally know my direction
to be glad that I passed her inspection

It took so long. . . . .
to know that today was fun but tomorrow is another one
to watch my words flow and watch where they go
to accept that some things that I just can't forget and move on
to know that this time I will be strong   

It took so long. . . .                                             Jon York      2012

Being deeply loved by someone
gives you strength, while loving
someone deeply gives you courage
and sometimes in a lifetime you
meet that one special soul who
fills your very essence to almost
overflow and you find that love is
the gentle embrace between body
and soul.

The soul that lives in the heart,
no distance can prevail, an inner
spark within the heart becomes
a holy grail, the starting of a
journey in which you both shall
be a reflection of each other for
all eternity and you will say to
one another, "I am yours, you
are mine because our hearts
and our souls are entwined and
I love you with my soul because
the soul never stops and never
forgets."

"The melding of our bodies,
the surging of our two souls,
and the love between us keeps
us from growing old," and you
will hardly be able to see where  
one of you begins or the other
person ends, and what a special
way to age, by being together
having grown like parsley
and sage.

I did not know what love was,
until I knew what love was not.
                                                         Jon York   2018

Master change
rather than allowing
it to master you
and don't mind
what happens
as you may encounter
many defeats.

We will not
be defeated
when we realize
that when we forgive
we don't change the past,
we change the future.

We can't go back
and start
a new beginning
but we can start today
and make a
new ending.                Jon  York     2013

Though  these words  may never
find you, I  hope you knew I was
thinking of you today...

How is it that you are always in
my  thoughts, even  when  I  am
not thinking.

Love  is the most beautiful of
dreams  and  the  worst  of
nightmares.

Your  smile  and  your laughter
and  those  baby  blues  lit  my
whole world.

I choose to love you from a distance...
for distance will shield me from pain.

There is an ocean of silence between
us...and I am drowning in it.

You were both everything I could
ever want... and nothing I could ever have.

A true love story never ends.                                         Jon York   2023

There  will  be
many chapters
in your life.  

Don't get lost
    in the one
     you're in
        now.  

    Never get
      so busy
     making
a  living  that
          you
     forget to
         make
         a life.

       Until you
   cross the bridge
         of your
     insecurities,
            you
      can't begin
              to
      explore your
       possibilities.

             If it's
       meant to be,
         it will be.                                                                     Jon York   2019

If love
can be lied about
then it never
really was.

A wound
that just won't heal
so I embrace the pain
of distant memories
of the hopes and dreams
that I had
when I was thinking
that I had so much
to gain.

What a crying shame
that I used to think
that I would die without her
but now I find myself
wishing I'd never met her,
or played her
little games.

The feeling
just will not die even
though all she ever did
was lie .

What she did
for me was give
inspiration to write
so into the night
I go to write
which is much better
than looking
for a fight.                              Jon  York                  2012

How does it feel. . .
when at age sixty-four you couldn't ask for anything more
when love is heaped at your feet and it has found its end in you
when everything becomes real and there she is, right in front of you
when your lips touch and you know love is finally here.

How does it feel. . .
when you realize that she is the one
when you know that you're looking for her is done
when you finally are able to see that all she wants is you.

How does it feel. . .
when you reach out for a body at night and find her there to hold
when she wraps her body around you and you know it is right
when she holds on to you all through the night
when her embrace says everything is going to be okay.

How does it feel. . .
when you know exactly what to do
when you know that it is what she wants too.

How does it feel. . .
when I can feel her love when she talks to me
when you know it feels good so you are able to take one day at a time
when you can still write a rhyme about her love.

How does it feel. . .                                    
when you finally realize that the key to change is to let go of fear
when you finally shed that tear of happiness.
It feels so good.
                                                           ­                                          Jon York       2013

Such a lady
althought at first meeting
one could think that
she was a bit
shady.

She uses her power well
constantly looking
for something
to sell.

She possess's an aura
and demeanor of a
movie starlet.

Staying so busy
but still able to find
passing minutes
and spend them
with me and then
like a bird she
flies free.

A free bird in flight
that can't be caged
but maybe someday
she will turn
the page.                   Jon   York           2012

Your lips I crave. . .
and to touch your face,
to feel your ******* again
make my heart tremble
as I enter your warmth
again after so long.

I couldn't talk as our
bodies moved together
as if in slow motion.

Where have you been
hiding my love I wanted
to say to her. . . but afraid
to speak fearing whatever
I said would only offend.

I still love you, I still need
you, I still look for you, I
wanted to scream out to
her. . . if only she could
read my mind.
                                   Jon York    2017

If you want to stop time,
kiss and if you want to
travel in time, read and
if you want to escape time,
embrace music , and if
you want to feel time,
write and to release time,
breathe.

Learn to love without
condition, talk without
bad intention, give
without any reason and
most of all, care for
people without any
explanation.

Don't think about what
can happen in a month,
don't think about what
can happen in a year,
but focus on the 24
hours in front of you
and do what you can
to get closer to where
you want to be

Don't look for things
you aren't ready to find
and never accept anything
less than you deserve
and remember, you teach
people how to treat you
and every level of life
will demand a different
version of you and things
are as they are and we
suffer because we
imagined different, so let
it hurt, let it bleed, let it
heal, and let it go.
                                     Jon York    2016

Just singing
the same old song over
and over as the years just
fly by and are gone in the
blink of an eye.

Every new day
that I wake up I can't help
but wonder how much closer
I am to that day when
I will die.

No one knows
when it will come
and we cannot run for
time is a fire that we all burn
and knowledge is
something we all
yearn.

All we can hope for
is that we all learned something
along the many different roads
that we traveled as our
lives unraveled.

I learn something new
every day as I move along
invisible to some but
here to stay
and if you really knew me
you have been able to see me
somewhere along the way
as I try in my own way
to share this knowlege learned
with others for their use
some day.

I have learned
to stay strong to be able
to navigate the many different paths
and to shoulder life's wraths
so I could just keep moving along
singing that same  old song
but I still have to cry without
even knowing why.                                            Jon   York                    2012