Half    naked

          cuddling      &

          slow     nasty

          tongue kissing

          needed   now.

           Only   females

           with  beautiful

          souls, blue eyes &      

            beautiful    lips

            wanted,  please.
   ­                                                                 ­ Jon York   2019

Time is like a river because you never
touch the same water twice as the flow
that passes you by will never pass again
so enjoy every moment of your life and
make the rest of your life the best of your
life and one day you will be at the place
that you always wanted to be.

Have the determination to make things
happen, the strength to overcome all things
and open your eyes so that you may see all
of the beauty that surrounds you and open
your ears so that you may hear all of the
joyous sounds of the world and be aware
of the marvels of life while not taking the
rest of your life for granted.

Within you lies the determination, the
strength, and the will to survive even
when life seems overwhelming and you
are preoccupied with the troublesome
details of life.

Realize deeply that the present moment
is all you ever have and that you must
make now the primary part of your life
righting the past wrongs and accepting
what you cannot change and turning
toward the positive knowing that in
order to be loved, you must be lovable.
                                                               Jon York     2016

I am just glad to be here,
in this place with the one
that I hold so dear,
this beautiful Angel that
came out of nowhere, with
so much to say, I give
thanks for this day, because
I know that she is here to stay,
and we know together we
will win this race. I am so
happy to be Where I am Today.

I look at her and just don't know
what to say, except that my love
is true, and so are you, and that
you will never be blue.

For her I changed my life, this
lady that will be my wife,
together our lives will never
be the same, because it is the
start of a brand new game,
and eternal is the flame.

It just gets better every day,
and I still look for the right words to say,
so for now I just hope and pray that
tomorrow that I will be given another
day, with her by my side, and the
only three words I ever need to say
are " I love you".

Loves, like the years,come and go
so fast. A blink and they are gone.
But we know this one is meant to last.
However long we are together we
both know we have to forget the past.
We must live these precious moments
in this place that we are in right now,
this place Where I am today.
                                                           Jon York

As you get
older you
gather
layers of
life.

You wear
them
proudly or
they take
you down.

I choose to
wear mine.                
                                         Jon York   2016

Life is really amazing out there
so I write poems about it and if
I can learn to master change
rather than allow it to master me
I will continue to write poems
about life while continuing to
enjoy it not going through it
acting as if it will never end
and simply following every trend.

My poetry is not obscure and
it speaks clearly about things
that readers can recognize in a
language that can be understood
and it focuses upon feelings and
responses that we have all shared.

My poems have a simplicity and
a directness and communicate
directly without confronting the
reader with either excessive
difficulties either of language
or allusion.

My poems live on their page in an
unrehearsed natural rhythm of
experience and moment of time
rather than of ideas and above all it
is readable while focusing upon
significant and recognizable human
feelings and responses of daily life.
                                                              Jon York      2014

Sometimes
                 you   just
                 have to be  
                 your  own
                 hero. Some
           days you just have
              to create your
                       own
                  sunshine.

                    Do not
            judge your story
                     by the
               chapter you
              walked  in  on.
          
                 Life  always
                       offers
                you a second
                   choice. It's
                       called
                  tomorrow.
                        And
                       when
            tomorrow arrives
                 keep a smile
                     on your
              face. It's the best
                    accessory
                         you
                    can wear.
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

My life is poetry and I am always
with pen and paper close at hand
knowing that my experiences
both past and present give me
the words that I write.  

I live these remaining days of my
life, however long that may be,
just a soul in this crazy beautiful world
with poetry as my art and I dwell
within these shadows but it is
in these shadows that I can see,
being careful, calm, and free.

Haunted by memories
that return to me in my sleep,
I go to these empty places
filled with empty faces
always trying to
consume me.

So many thoughts in my head
as I sleep and so many when
I am awake leaving me
to think to myself that it is
such a waste not to write them down,
knowing that what has happened to me
is poetry in motion even though
they sometimes cause me to frown.

I have tasted the fruits of love
and from them come my words
and they prove to be
a never ending
source for my poetry
and I will write as long as time
permits me to do so
and as long as there's
breath within me.                                    Jon York        2013

I swim in a sea of words floating around in my
head and I am sometimes beaten down by the
waves but I have managed to survive and am
still alive and I have not given up on life even
when surrounded by strife.

Can't say. . .
that I haven't had enough time or that I don't have
enough time left in my life to be productive or say
something with my words that will affect people
that I teach and those that read me.
Can say. . .
that it is never too late in my life to find real love
because love is all around me even though I can't
see it or touch it but I know that she is out there
somewhere and all I have to be able to is see it.

Can't say. . .
that I won't survive the reality of the past because I
am still here after so many years and after so many
near death experiences and I can't say that I don't
hold my life to be dear.
Can say. . .
that it seems like the older I get the more questions I
have and no one to answer them and nothing makes
sense anymore but as I get older the more I discover
that learning is discovering what I didn't even know
I didn't know.

Can't say. . .
that I have felt everything that I am going to feel and
from here on out I am only going to feel lesser versions
of what I have already felt.
Can say. . .
that I still learn something new every day and I still
have a lot more words to put out there if I dare and
that it is so important , even at my age, to dream and
dance for laughter, dance for tears, and to dance for
hopes and dance for screams because we are the
dancers and we all create our own dreams.
                                                         ­                        Jon York   2016

I'm   going  to  start

    at  your lips  and

      then work my

        way further

       down south...  
      
          You wanna

           come   over,

      and maybe come

         over and over?

            I  find  myself

          drawn to people

                who are

               intelligent,

               funny, and

                perverted.                                                 Jon York   2019

You realize that a $3000 watch
and a $30 watch tell the same
time.

A Michael Kors wallet and a
Forever 21 wallet hold the same
amount of money.

A $950,000 house and a $100,000
house host the same loneliness.

A Ford will also drive you as far
as a Bentley.

True happiness is not found in
materialistic things. It comes
from the love and laughter
found with each other.

And sometimes the smallest step
in the right direction ends up being
the biggest step of your life, so
tip toe if you must, but take the
step.

Stay humble....the holes dug for
us in the ground are all the same
size.
                                                      ­                           Jon York  2018

I like to think
that I am nothing special,
a common man with
common thoughts that has
lived a common life.

I am just a man
with a desire to be read
by someone before
I am dead.

I am a common poet
who likes to put words together
that take one on a journey
of the senses that get people
get off of their fences.

I've been to
so many places and felt
so many different emotions
but with the emotion of love
the words just come
and come until you begin
to feel numb.

The only one emotion for me
that is really worth
writing about
is love.

When you have loved another
with all of your heart and soul
there is nothing else
that you ever need
to know and nothing will
ever compare.

This kind of love
just takes your senses on a ride
and makes you
feel funny inside.

You feel as if you had wings
and you start doing crazy things
that are beyond
your control.

Things that feel so good
and for me this has always been
enough because once you have lived
and loved in that way nothing
can ever compare.

Losing that kind of love
is a whole different story though
and of this I know
and this is a terrible place
that you don't want
to go.

Life becomes so slow
and all of a sudden you have
nowhere to hide so you just slide
into words and write poetry
hoping to ease the pain
from losing what you spent
an eternity trying to gain...                 Jon York     2012

With the sound of your voice you
touch my soul and I am so glad
for that touch and sometimes  I
celebrate the sound of your voice
and at other times I feel the need
to recover from it.

You can speak a world into existence
or empty life of its meaning and the
unspeakable is heard and felt when
you speak to me, and as I hear your
voice I am touched.

When you speak the energy flows
and just the sound of your voice
makes me glad to be alive and glad
that I am a man.

With your voice you banish fear,
soothe and caress challenges and
delights and when you speak the
subject does not matter but for me
the sound of your voice does.

The fascination that is you, the
mystery that is you, I find and know
in the sound of your voice and as the
sound of your voice excites  and
nurture's me I warm myself in
it as it touches my soul.

When we speak our souls resonate
and intimacy occurs and we attend
to what we love and who we love
and that is the sound of each others
voice and one another.

Should you speak to me in urgency
or despair gladly I would take
on the world for you and you know
this and  P S, I Love You
                                                  Jon York     2018

A blank page is staring at me, cursing me and
laughing at me, who is always nostalgic and in
need of solitude I am because I let life pass me
by as I rolled down this highway of life.

I've been trying to catch it but have run out of
time as my life has been a roller coaster rhyme
going from bright as a star to deep dark and
sublime but have committed no crime.

Out of time with no one else is in my rhyme
but that is not really a crime but there was a
day when being alone this far down the line
was something I could never say but it just
turned out that way.

I've had my day in the sun, my fifth teen
minutes of fame and I've played their game
and as a result I will never be the same and
it appears that all I did was not run from
anybody else but only myself and I still run
from what I had to do in a far away land
with a gun in my hand and still it never lets
me sleep because I have to face Charlie
every night and day because the memories
will just not go away.

As the end of my life nears I don't to shed
any more tears because I've had so many
good years and so many loves and have
written so many words about those times
and those words will remain long after I
am gone so for now all I can do now is to
remain strong until it is time to be gone
knowing that if only time were a friend
of mine I wouldn't feel the need to write
this rhyme.                                           Jon York    2016

You're   in  the  sun,
the wind,  the  rain,
you're  in  the  air  I
breathe  and   in
every  breath I  take.

You  sing  a   song   of
hope  and  cheer, of a
place  where    there's
no   more   pain    and
no  more  fear.

I   see your eyes  in  the
blue clouds above  and
hear your whispers   of
sweet  words  of    love.

We    will    be   together
before    long,  and until
then  I'll listen  for  your
song that only I can hear.

Just   like  the  rivers   are
pulled to the sea, forever
with  you  I am destined
                   to be.
                                                                                           Jon York    2019

Match the frequency
of the reality you want
and you will get that reality
today because yesterday
is history and tomorrow
is a mystery but know
that today is a gift.

Forget what hurt you
in the past and never forget
what it taught you as you
find balance over your years,
as you live for today
and answer to nobody
except yourself.

Start the next chapter
of your life and if you
find someone who
makes you smile
and someone who
checks up on you often
to see if your okay
and someone who watches
out for you and wants
the very best for you,
don't let them go.

Keep them close
and never take them
for granted because
people like that
are just too hard
to find.

Get out of your own way
and you will be surprised
what will come to you
and realize that choice,
not chance determines
your destiny, so make
the right choice.         Jon York       2013

As I grow older I learn that pleasing everyone
is impossible but ******* everyone off is a
piece of cake and what screws us up most in
life is the picture in our head of how it is
supposed to be and we often become blind
and refuse to see what is right in front of us
moving us to disgust.

Hurt me with the truth if you have to but
never try to comfort me with lies and know
that it is during the worst times of our lives
that we get to see the true colors of some of
the people who say they care for us and
nothing worth having comes easy and
sometimes you don't get closure, you just
move on.

I am stronger because I have had to be and
smarter because of my mistakes and happier
because of the sadness I have known and
thankful for my struggles because without
them I would not have stumbled across my
strengths.

What comes easy doesn't last and what lasts
doesn't usually come easy and our greatest
pains often become our greatest strengths
so be strong enough to stand alone and smart
enough to know when you need help and
brave enough to ask for it.    
                                                         ­                    Jon  York    2016

I Love and
    I cherish every
         aspect of
the divine feminine
       that  stands
         before me.
            I feel
     her and I touch
        every part
            of her
      angelic body
        and to her
                 I
whisper the truths
    my heart holds.
         And she
  embraces the full  
     embodiment  
of  her soul's essence
  and  now the only
piece left to finish this
    exquisite mosaic
is the sacred union she
    shares with me,
her divine masculine,
     and notice how
she glows differently
    when loved right
               and
    treated  properly.                                       ­                  Jon York   2019

Think about what you think and be grateful
for what you are and for what you have and
realize life while you live it and no matter
what you are doing be your own master and
don't let outside forces control you.

One choice can transform you as you try to
answer every question that can be answered
which allows you to live before you die and
pay attention to every second which enables
you to remember what it is like to be human.

One choice can destroy you as you challenge
your illogical thought processes while you are
here and value every moment knowing that it
is not what you say but how you say it and if
it is right.

One choice can define you as correct answers
must be affirmed so you can live the life that
you chose even if you think that you might lose.

One choice can take you there but be sure it is
where you want to go and if it isn't where you
want to go be able to find your way back.
                                                           ­           Jon York       2016

Don't just think about
the future, own it! and
if you have a dream,
make it a reality and
move forward, be inspired,
and motivate, but be sure
that you know the difference
between taking a risk and
putting yourself at risk.

Remember that power is
it's own reward, just as it
is it's own punishment and
if you pray for rain, you
must learn how to deal
with the mud.

The future belongs to the
past, and it is not about
saving the world, it's just
about doing something that
matters, and know that
everyone is capable of
greatness; they just need the
right fuel, and realize that
people aren't against you,
they are for themselves.

Don't look now, but the
future you planned for just
became the past, and you
deserve better, so don't be
just a dreamer, become a
doer, where the only direction
is forward and decide to focus
on growing, knowing that
we are just mortal beings in
an ever changing phenomenal
existence and our life would
be so empty if we had
nothing to regret.
                                Jon York    2017

Sometimes words are not
enough to describe what I feel
and sometimes I just want to
watch the sunsets and dance in the rain
and greet the day with love in my heart
that feels a little less pain.

There can never be a rainbow
without some rain so drink your tears
from the fountain of wisdom as you
embrace your fears for this is your
armor for your battles
yet to come.

We ask what is love,
is it happiness and is it what
every one hopes for and
if I had a single flower for every time
I thought I had found love,
I could walk forever
in my garden.

Love broke through to me
and made me feel so alive and
so fulfilled and I am no longer fragile,
but strong because what was thought
to be broken beyond repair is
healed now as the myriad fragments
were collected and put back together
and repaired as love gave me hope
and a reason to carry on.

Love is the sole reason that I feel
like I do and with each passing morning
I am reborn anew and with the colors I paint
I can't quite capture the hue.                           Jon York     2013

You are because I am,
I am because you are.
We are lost in a dream,
this is the place we meet.

As  long  as  we  can
see  the  same  sky,
breathe the same air,
step on the same planet,
you and I are not impossible.

Your body is away from me,
but there is a window open
from my heart to yours,
and whenever I close my eyes,
forever I will see yours.
                                                                                   Jon York   2021

Every human being
is different
and we each have our own story
so just be you
and be okay with it
and feel your own glory
and know that our mistakes
make us who we are
so learn and grow
with each choice that you make
because life isn't
about finding yourself
it is about creating
yourself.

Everything is worth it
and everything happens
for a reason just like
the changing seasons
so know that you are powerful
because you have
survived.

At some point we have to
let go of all of the
pointless drama around us
and let go of those who create it
but because it is so hard
to forget the bad we must
just focus on the good
because life is way too short
to be anything but happy
and at the same time realize
that time doesn't exist
only clocks exist.

Learn to love the skin you are in
and always be you
and be okay with it
because no one can
make you feel inferior
without your consent
and try to discover
that the important things in life
are always simple
but simple things are always
the hardest.                                         Jon  York         2012

This may well destroy me
and I am entirely,
completely,
and magnificently
alright with that.

I am haunted
by the things I miss
and all the times my name
doesn't fill your mouth.

I need a word
for the way that feels,
for all the combinations
of all the letters, don't
seem to say it properly

I know the way
to your toes curled
and palms filled
with sheets squeezed.
It matters not
that I did not build
the roads, for no one
can drive them
like me.

Will you come
and roll yourself
carelessly in my bed?
If leave you must
then leave you must,
the scent of you
behind.

                                                    ­                                    Jon York   2019

Some people and some things
that take place
in your life you cannot ever forget
so all that you can do is
just move on.

I am just happy to be alive
and to have made it this far down
that treacherous road of life
as we ask ourselves day in and day out
what this life is really
all about.

Love is something that
we all try to embrace and sometimes
it just hits us in the face
causing us to be sad or to be glad
as we ask ourselves
what is this love really
all about.

You hope that the scars
that are left will soon be gone
and will not influence
what you have to do for
the rest of your life.

We go through life
and remember people and events
and places that we wish had never been to
or seen so we bury them
and try not to think about them again
but at what cost
as we wish that we could
come out of it clean
as we pretend that they
never really happened.

Living a good life
after fighting a war
in a far away land and another at home
in the promise land
caused many of us to just
stick our heads in
the sand.

Tasting a love
that you thought was real
but turned out to be only lies
that brought many cries
and forever changed how you look
at trust only makes moving
on a must.

There is just no escape from reality
so we lie to oueselves
and pretend that they never happened
but some things and some people
you just don't ever forget
so you just move on.        Jon York                 2012

The movie never ends and it just
goes on and on and on and we
make the same mistakes over
and over again.

No apologies or excuses when
we can finally decide that our
life is our own and we alone
are responsible for the quality
of it and it is then that we
discover what an amazing
journey it is and it is then
that our life begins.

Limited because we always
seem to limit ourselves to what
we are told or to what is bought
and sold and what we can do
with what society tells us is
right or wrong so we just keep
replaying the same old song.

Images are given to us when
we are young about what is
right and what is wrong so we
sing their song until me are
mature enough to make our
own decisions that bring the
best results.

For the best we try to make
our life but sometimes we don't
count on the heart interfering
with our direction and playing
a major part  in our decisions
that we choose and this
sometimes causes us to go
wrong and we lose.

But by our mistakes we can
hope to get stronger
and realize that it is not
about how long we are here
but it is about what
we leave and how long
our legacy will last.

Eternity has no mass or no
dimensions but it lasts forever
and you can't hold it but you
can feel it as it just goes on
and on.

You can steer yourself in any
direction that you choose
because you are on your own
in this movie and only you can
choose where to go but you
should know that every challenge
be it great or small moves you
to look deeper and draw forth
the highest in you.

Burning and freezing at the
same time sometimes your
guarded heart sees defeat
but the feeling of love still
lingers in the heart but you
have to realize that it is gone
and you can't turn back and
the hours are not really ours
but only borrowed yet we
pretend to spend them.                            Jon York             2012

Believe  me  when I
say "I  always  think  
of  you."  No  matter
how  busy  I am.  No
matter  what  I   am
doing. My  brain   is  
constantly  thinking  
of   you.

Arms  I  want  to  be
wrapped  in,  eyes  I
want  to  be  lost   in.

Perhaps  I am  being
too hopeful to think
that  you  and  I   are
taking  a detour  while  
finding    our   way
back  to  each   other.

I  am  still  convinced
the   rest  of   my   life
looks  like  you  and I
just want to taste your
lips  before  my  coffee
every morning.

I want  to see a whole
world  of   different
sunsets  with  you.                                        Jon York   2019

Shared laughter in sheets
says  more  of   ****
than   a   thousand
sensuous   sighs
stirring  across  the
softest  satin.

Let us make
quiet   love,
soft   sighed
ans slow stirred;
glancing grazes
and beautiful
gasps.

Swallow
your loudest screams
and yell instead
with squeezing
    hands.

Do you think it possible
that some people
are born to give
more love
then they will ever
get   back
in   return?
                                                         ­                     Jon York   2019

I returned from
Vietnam in 1970 and
the war was over in
1975 and over 58,000
died in that war and
twice as many Americans
committed suicide
after it was over.

As I write this in late
2016, 22 Veterans a
day still commit suicide
as the dying still persists.  

Doesn't anyone wonder
why so many Veterans
have to still die after all
of these years and why
doesn't anybody question
this useless dying of 22
Veterans every day
or does anyone care that
this dying still persists.
     Jon York    2016 - USMC, Vietnam 69 - 70

I still hide you
    in my poetry and long after
             I have given up,
      my  heart still searches
                  for you
                without
                    my
               permission.

            Life is so ironic.
     It  takes  sadness  to  know
         what happiness is,
                   noise to
           appreciate silence.

                  The most
       beautiful things in life
               are not things,
     they're people and places,
             and memories and
                   pictures.
           They're feelings and
              moments and
                      smiles
                and laughter.

               Memories
       are always  special.
           We laugh by
     remembering the days
               we cried,
And we cry remembering
              the days
            we laughed.....!!    
               That's life.                                                    Jon York   2019

Bring love
and you will
feel it's strength
and you will know
that love
comes to those
who hope even though
they have been
disappointed.

Love comes
to those who believe
despite having
been betrayed.

Love comes
to those who can
still love even though
they have been hurt
so many times
before.

Only a powerful soul
can offer love
and be humble and
that kind of soul
realizes
that any time
not spent on love
is wasted.

Love the ones
who treat you right
and forget the ones
who don't
and in the end know
that everything happens
for a reason so just
move on to
the next season
keeping love in
your heart.                          Jon York          2013

Aging is an extraordinary process
              where you become the
            person  you  always  should
                        ­  have been.

              A satisfied life is better
         than a successful life.  Because
OUR SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY OTHERS
      but our satisfaction is measured
          by our own soul, mind
                  and heart.

    The greatest prison people live
in is  fear of what  other people  think.
   Everything we hear is an opinion,
                        not a fact.
   Everything we see is a perspective,
                        not the truth.

      People don't want to hear the truth
            because they don't want
           their  illusions  destroyed.
                                    ­                                                  Jon York   2021

Dreams
I'm a thousand miles from you tonight
this world doesn't seem to be just right
I gaze into a far off space and dream
that I am in your embrace then I wake
up and it's dawn and my dreams have
faded -- you are gone.

The tender words that you once
said I draw about me like a warm
cloak for protection against the
biting words of your scorn.

            Compensation
Weeks of anxious waiting, days of
loneliness, banished in an instant by
one fond caress.
Hours of desperation; agony, despair
-- vanished and forgotten when you
                                           say you care.
Endless nights of longing, slowly
moving time...swept into oblivion
when your lips touch mine.

Other hearts may love you, other
lips pressed to thine, but no heart
will ever love you like this broken
               heart of mine.


       Monday --Thursday
    all this week -- I have
loved you -- cheek to cheek
     Friday -- Saturday, today
somehow love has slipped away
     Last week -- this week
    three weeks hence, your
      rating has dropped
         to thirty cents.

The years have been long and
the words have been few and
    though I agreed to part,
          I still love you --
I have tried to forget but that
is hard to do when all things
remind me - I still love you.

The gold of the sun recalls the gold
of your hair, that halo almost divine,
and the blue of the skies brings back
the blue of your eyes,
I long for you, sweetheart of mine,
Don't you often regret that I'm not
there to say - I still love you.

                 Prayer
                O  God
           I don not ask
         for a better day
             I only ask
             that I may
                live it
        in a better way.
                                         Jon York    2017

So what if I didn't
give her butter flies,
who needs butter flies
if you have real love.

Life isn't a paperback
novel or a romantic
Hollywood movie.
Butter flies quickly
disappear as soon as
they appear but real
love stays.

So what if she could only
pretend that she loved me,
so she could use me. She is
the one who has to live with
herself and look into
the mirror everyday.

So what if I didn't really
love her, but only loved
what I wanted her to be
and what I knew she was
capable of being.

It is all the same, it's all
a big game that we call life.
Two people play their parts
because they think that they
don't want to be alone but
soon discover that they have
to answer to that person who
loves them and and that they
supposedly loved back, so they
go back to being alone.

So what if somebody gets hurt,
for life is full of hurt and lies and
it is how you deal with those false
promises that determines
who you are in the end.

So what if money changes
everything because that's
just the way it is and the
way that it will always be.

So what if we go through life
never really happy but
only pretending to be happy,
for obtaining happiness is
different for every person.

So what if everybody goes
through life with their own idea
of what it takes to be happy and
what they think they are being
told by society as to what
they need to be happy.

Get over it, we are all going to die
and it is up to you to decide how
you want to life your life while
your here on earth until you
get there, happy or not.

So what if you choose wrong,
it's all the same, it's just all
a big game and you must
learn how to play it in order
to survive.                                     Jon York   2011

If I could be anything,
   I would be yours.
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

You make such
          a perfect
        arrangement
          of atoms.

          Sitting next
            to you
             is like
          taking a sip
          of eternity,
      the sun, the stars,
              the sky,
          never tasted
            so good.

         If you tell me
         you love me,
        chances are I'll
        spend forever
        proving I love
           you more.

         Make me feel
            like I'm a
    river, and you have
          been thirsty
          your entire
                  life.                                                                       Jon York  2019

I always knew that somehow
I would get by
but sometimes I had to cry about
the things I did and the things
that I should have done and
if I had then maybe
I could have won.  

Was it just about the money
and if that is all it was
then I find that really funny
because money isn't really
all that it takes to have a life
that is sunny.

Maybe it is about the love
that you give
and the love that you recieve
and how much you really believe
in yourself and what you really are
and not what others
think you are.

Don't find it necessary
to pretend to be a star
and try to accept who
and what you really are
and then you really
can be a star.

Follow the road
that you have chosen to follow
and if you are real this
will help you to seal the deal
and you won't have to steal
and realize that if you don't have
a chosen path not  just any road
will get you there.

If my words don't make sense
then just get off of your fence
and do what is right
and then you may live to see
another day and night
and then maybe you will see
what life is really about
and maybe then you
can get it right.                          Jon   York           2012

Writing a poem is like discovering your soul because
sometimes the hardest thing in life to face is yourself
but the words that come out of my head reflect my past
and some of the times that I wish would have lasted
just  little bit longer.                                                          ­        

Some of my loves were like a fire that sparked quickly
and then  burned with intense heat but some burned
out quickly and my soul seemed lost in the flame
leaving me never the same.

The soul tries to bring harmony and order out of chaos
and it attempts to introduce meaning and affect where
there was none and it  gives highs and lows to a landscape
that was previously flat.

The words I write define my soul and who I am and what
roadblocks I have had and finding the strength and courage to
overcome and the ability to forge new roads through the
disappointments that I have had to face.

And as I look at the words that come to paper I realize
that I am not my pain and I am not my past but I have
discovered my soul and these words have filled a great
big hole knowing that love comes to those even though
they have been disappointed and to those who still
believe even though they have been betrayed and to
those who can still love.

Only a powerful soul can offer love and be humble and
my words have helped me to discover this and let me
realize that any time not spent on love is wasted.
                                                         ­                             Jon York   2017

Have  the  power  to
exorcise  ghosts  and
demons that  are still
lingering from the old
days and your old ways.

Be able to transform the
way your history affects
you.

Knot by knot untie yourself
from your past and let it
rise away from you like
a ballon.  

Become adept at the process
of  self-inquiry and symbolic
insight, leading to the growth
of faith in yourself.
                                                                                                Jon York  2022

The best thing you can ever do is
to believe in yourself and take it
day by day being grateful for every
breath you take and realizing that
you are not a product of your
circumstances but a product of
your decisions and recognizing that
along the way of your journey
sometimes you must fight a battle
more than once to win it.

Have the courage to embrace dreams
and the strength to sacrifice for them
and the determination to fulfill them
because life goes faster than you think
and in the end we are all just humans
and that should be enough.

Learn quickly that you alone are
responsible for the quality of your life
and when you decide that your life is
your own only then can the first day
of your life really begin so decide
what you want and decide that there
is no better time than now to get it
no matter how far along you are
in your years.

Nothing haunts us like the things we
didn't say and hell is something you
carry around with you, not somewhere
to go so survive by forgetting and
finding that quiet voice at the end of the
day saying"I will try again tomorrow."
                                                                      Jon York       2015

EMBRACE THE ****
                                        verb, military slang

                     To

        CONSCIOUSLY

               ACCEPT
                     or
           APPRECIATE
             something
                   that
                     is
            EXTREMELY

          UNPLEASANT
                    ­but
         UNAVOIDABLE
                      for
              FORWARD

         PROGRESSION.

in the game of life sometimes it is necessary to accept and live with something that is extremely unpleasant but totally unavoidable in
order to progress forward to the dream or the place we wish to be, in other words, we embrace the ****.

                                                          ­                                Jon York   2019

The flaw
         of the world?
       Everyone wants
         to fall in love
           with love
          and no one
         wants to fall
          in love with
               pain.
      And the truth is
    we  are  all   novels;
      our pages stained
  with   the   fingerprints
          of either our
                lovers
          or loneliness.
      And you run out
               of tears
    long before you run
           out of hurt.
                                                                                                Jon York    2019

Sometimes. . .  everyone seems normal,
until you get to know them,
                 . . .  we have to accept that not
every situation is a win, but every single one
is a learning experience,
                 . . . we have to realize that there are
far, far better things ahead, than any we
leave behind,
                 . . . it is the mind-forged handcuffs
that are the hardest to break.
                 . . . we will meet someone whose soul
is not aligned with ours, send them love
and move along,

Sometimes. . . the secret of change is to focus
all of our energy on the new, not on fighting the old,
                 . . . it is necessary to stretch outside our
comfort zone and expand our consciousness,
                 . . . we will find what we are looking for,
or maybe we won't.
                 . . . it's better to die on your feet than to
live on your knees,

Sometimes. . . we get distracted and we forget to look
at the most beautiful things in life,
                  . . . the distance between your dreams and
your reality is called action,
                 . . . it is a blessing and sometimes it is a curse
to feel everything so deeply,
                 . . . I am humble enough to know that I'm
not better than anybody and sometimes I am wise
enough to know that I'm different from the rest,
                 . . . we have to be our self in a world that is
constantly trying to make us something else.

Sometimes. . . we have to realize that no matter
who we are or what we have been through, we are
capable of finding peace,
                 . . . we have to realize that we will get there
when we are meant to get there, so we must relax,
breathe and be patient,
                 . . . comparing our self to others is a fools
game and will steal our joy and the only person that
we should compare our self to is the person
we were yesterday,
                 . . . 'later' often becomes 'never' so what are you
waiting for.                                                   Jon York      2014

Excuses will always be there for you
and opportunity won't, so remember
how far you have come along with
everything you have faced and all of
the battles you have won and all of
the fears you have overcome, while
realizing that life is too ironic to be
fully understood and remember that
you have the power to make the future
better than the present if you  have
power over your circumstances instead
of letting your circumstances have
power over you.

A positive attitude gives you power
over your circumstances so know that
you have the power to change your
life at any given moment and never
forget that, so laugh at the confusion,
smile through the tears, and keep
reminding yourself that everything
happens for a reason.

Everyone sees what you appear to be
but few experience what you really are,
so remember it takes sadness to know
what happiness is, noise to appreciate
silence, absence to value presence and
remember that no one is you and that
is your power, so live your dreams and
take risks because life is happening now.
                                                            ­       Jon York     2016

Into my world she came,
because of her I will
never be the same.

From her first look
into my brown eyes,
she knew that there
would be no more lies.

It was as if she felt
my need for her and I
could sense her need
for me.

Able to read me like a
book, just from her first
look, she knew what to do,
what to say and how to play.

We both have hoped and
prayed for this moment of
being united with the one
that we  have been waiting for.

Together we are one, for this
we have waited so long and
now we both know that
our past is gone, and for now
we have found one another
and will give the most we can
to what we have.

The love between us grows
stronger everyday, and we both
know it is a love that is here to stay,
and this be all I need to say.
                                                           Jon York

I am getting so much closer to the end and cannot pretend anymore.
I an old and gray but still have a lot to say.
I am so many memories of loves gone by and know that there will be one more before I die.
I am saddened that none wanted to stay but they just wanted to play for awhile and tell those lies while trying to find those blue skies.
I am that perfect love that  I know will walk through that door to make me happy just once more.
I am tired legs and painful joints but know that I must keep on going because that is what I do best, to be able to just keep on going no matter what life hands me.
I am a well read popular Poet with many loyal followers that wait for new words with anticipation.
I am a writer that writes poetry about life, loves lost and found, and the pain and happiness they bring, and sometmes I write about everything that is just going on around my world and I just keep on doing my thing.
I am love for my loyal dogs who never leave my side with unconditional love as if from above.
I am the tears that you cry as you read these words.
I am....                                                           ­                                                             Jon York               2012

As my emotions
become intense
they spill out on
to paper in ink
as words that
sometimes make
one think.

I am just a traveler
searching for purity
and in my travels
I have learned not
to count the days
but to try to make
each day count.

10 years of time in
the blink of an eye
as the years go by
so quick it almost
makes one sick.

Mindset is everything
because every day
is another chance
to change your life.

We have to believe
that we are here to
make a difference
and not just to exist.

A risk is worth taking
as long as it is for a
good cause and
contributes something.

Good things come to
those who believe
in themselves and
better things come
to those who are
patient and live
in the now but the
best things come
to those who never
give up and keep
getting back up
after being knocked
down.

So put away that
frown as you look
for that purity that
sometimes rarely
comes around.                                  Jon York           2014

Daily doses of inspiration & wisdom
are highly recommended for our health and well being
and when you find that you can tell your stories
without bringing up any pain then you know
you are healed or starting on the road to healing
and you will know when you start
to get that feeling.
]
In my words and poems I tell stories
of changes, stories of love found and love lost
and maybe a little about the cost of love,
and yes in the beginning there was a lot
of hurt and pain but as the words came
it started slowly to go.

At first it was very slow but as
more words and poems came I found that I no longer
had to feel such misery and pain and I actually
began to feel like I had something to gain
and something to give to others
with the same.

So many poems it took to wash away the pain
and I hope my words will let others see
that words and poems can set you free
and as I breathe and release that which
no longer serves me knowing that change
is a process, not an event, I finally realized
that the love you take is equal
to the love you make.

The power of the universe will come
to your assistance if your heart and mind
are in unity so in the end be kind
because EVERYONE is fighting their own battles
and trying to find their own
peace of mind.             Jon York       2013

If I could find a word
to describe how I feel
about you, I'd write it
over and over again
in a love letter to you.

You bring the best
out in me and I know
that you can see
what your love
does to me.

The way you hug
me in the morning
as I sleep and the way
that you kiss me
goodbye as you leave,
trying not to wake me.

Your actions speak
volumes and by them
I know that you truly
love me and I don't
have to ask, because
we both know that
this kind of love lasts.

As the years seem
to fly by, we both know
that neither of us
have to cry anymore
because there is
so much love in store.

Our hearts now
have a home and
know that they are
no longer alone.                     Jon York         2014

You are there for me
when I need you to be,
it is so easy to see
that you belong to me
and that I will grow old
with you by my side
just like you had always
been there, but I was
just too blind to see.

Words had carried
my love to you and
now we are face to face,
in each others arms
knowing together
we will win this race.

Tomorrow is another day,
but tonight I hold you
as I watch the world
flying by in the blink
of an eye, your smile
engraved in
my every thought,
knowing that I love you
as much now as I did
on that very first day.

I still feel the warmth
from your glow and
the beating of your
heart deep down
inside of me and we
both know that it
is about you
that I am.                Jon York    2011

it's all right. . . .
to have a passion for life
and to keep trying to get it right
at any age as long as
you don't lose sight of the world
around you and you don't
take love for granted.

it's all right. . . .
if love finds you at any age
during your years
but remember to
turn the page so there
will be no tears.

it's all right. . . .
to make your passion for love
like a flame of fire
that burns into your soul
making it whole.

it's all right. . . .
to have the courage
to embrace your dreams
and to have the strength to
sacrifice for them
and the determination
to fulfill them.

it's all right. . . .
to recall old hurts
but remember that nothing
is gained by living in the past
and that it is all right to
forgive and forget
and to share what you have
with those who have so much
less than you.

it's all right. . . .
to avoid temptation
because as you grow older
it starts avoiding you
and it's all right to forget that
you are absent minded
because we get old too soon
and smart too late.

it's all right. . . .
if you are old but
still have something on the ball
but are just too tired
to bounce it.

it's all right. . . .
to be human.             Jon York           2013