Embrace
          uncertainty,
              some of
              the most
              beautiful
       chapters  in our
  lives won't have a title
           until much
    later in our time here
          on this earth .

     Today I want to think
       about all that you
are instead of all that you
                are not.

      Your ability to listen
to  and  take  action  based  on
          your inner voice -
  regardless of how you feel,
          other influences
        or temptations you face -
               is the key to
               self  mastery.

                       The
               impossible
                   is often
                      only
                the untried.
                                                                                 Jon York   2019

You could see that you needed to

spend  some  more  time  with

me...   in   order  to  see  deeply

into my history of our so many

years  apart,  you   thought  to

yourself,  as  you  sat  in   your

chair next to our bed watching

me sleep.


A light  breeze out of nowhere

caused  your  hair  to rustle, to

quiver  over  your  ears  as   if

someone were near...


to whisper into your ear

all the things you needed

to hear.                                                                    Jon York   2019

Always. . .
. . .give more than others expected
and do it cheerfully,
. . .remember to notify your face,
when you feel terrific,
. . .try to live deeply and passionately
and to talk slowly and think quickly,
. . .remember that when you lose,
don't lose the LESSON.

Never. . .
. . .overlook life's small joys while
searching for the big ones,
. . .judge your success by what you
had to give up in order to get it,
. . .swap your integrity for money,
power or fame,
. . .be ashamed of honest tears or
confuse foolishness with BRAVERY.

Always. . .
. . .be prepared better than what
you think you need to be,
. . .remember that great love
and great achievements involve
great risk,
. . .remember to follow your own star
regardless of what others say.
. . .try to remember those magical moments
that life hands you.
. . .remember to be quick to take
advantage of an ADVANTAGE.

Never. . .
. . .ignore evil or decide to do
nothing about it,
. . .take friends, your health,
or a romantic relationship for granted,
. . .take what you cannot use
or will never need,
. . .tell a friend who is experiencing
deep sorrow or pain, "I know how you feel",
You DON'T.

Always. . .
. . .tell your loved ones know that
you love them because you might
not see another day,
. . .know that the young take pride
in their strength, but the gray hairs
of wisdom are even more BEAUTIFUL.
                                                      ­            Jon York      2014

There is no such thing in our lives as an
unimportant day and in order to make
a difference in our lives we must make
a difference in someone else's life and
the longer I live the more my mind
dwells on the beauty and the wonder
of the world.

I see beauty and goodness everywhere
and I have learned that the real joy of
life is to love and it is good to discover
people who are worthy of respect,
admiration and love but it is vital to
believe yourself worthy and deserving
of such things.

Strive to be better, strive to be more,
and strive to be amazing and learn to
keep the right company and learn to
leave those loser friends behind because
those you surround yourself will
determine your success so surround
yourself with people who are truthful
and people who will build you up.

Learn quickly that you alone are
responsible for the quality of your life
and when you decide that your life is
your own you can start living
regardless of where you are in years
and if you do that the result will be
fewer tears.
                                                          ­             Jon York     2015

They are always there for me whenever I am down
or need a soul to talk to or need someone to lift
me up from the ground and they take away my
pain as I give them my love by just calling
their name.

They are always by my side, following me wherever
I might go, and their love is unconditional no
matter what I do or where I am.

They wait in anticipation for me when I come home
and their tails are wagging and they are always
ready to kiss me which is their way of letting me
know I am never alone.

They always seem to know when I am feeling
down as they watch over me and try to take
away my frown.

They talk to me in barks and with their soulful
eyes as if they could feel my cries when I hurt
as they watch me closely to make sure I am
still alive and with their sparks of love they
try to ease my pain with their special love.

Their fur they leave laying around and I pick
it without a sound and brush their backs getting
little doggie moans that are full of happiness
and groans full of love.

These wonderful little and big Angels are sent
from above to protect us and take away some
of our pain as they guide us through our
troubles and watch over us in the rain.

All they ask for in return is a good forever
loving home and in return we get loyal,
unconditional love from these beautiful creatures
that I consider Angels, family, friends, and Saints.
                                                         ­               Jon York   2017

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous
changes so don't resist them for that only
creates sorrow, so let reality be reality
and realize that a life spent making
mistakes is not only more honorable but
more useful  than a life doing nothing.

Every day is a new opportunity and you
can build on yesterday's success or put its
failures behind and start over again
knowing that some people of mediocre
ability sometimes achieve outstanding
success because they don't know when
to quit

Never quit. it is the easiest cop - out in
the world so set a goal and don't quit
until you attain it but be aware that
pleasure is a shadow, wealth is vanity,
and power a pageant; but knowledge
is ecstatic in enjoyment, perennial in
frame, unlimited in space and
indefinite in duration.

Learn to admire but not envy, to
follow but not imitate, please but not
flatter, lead but not manipulate.
                                                     ­       Jon York     2017

Wake   up.
Hug a dog.
Have   a
good day.
                                                                                         Jon York   2019

It doesn't matter,
    it is  what
keeps one going.

If you ever get bored,
        just open
          your eyes.
                                 Jon York    2017

You are                                                   We loved
delicious                                                 with a love that
and I am                                                  was more than love.
greedy,

You are                                                    And you were
generous                                                 a risk
and I am                                                  a mystery and
needy.                                                      t­he most certain
                                                         ­         thing I'd
You are                                                     ever known.
experienced
and I am
learning.                                                   Because
                                                         ­          I could watch you
You are flammable                                  for a single
and I am                                                    minute and find
burning.                                                    ­a thousand things
                                                          ­         I love about you.
                                                            ­
                                                                ­                          Jon York   2021

Be  prepared for the journey  of life and  where
it will take you.  I've seen better days,  but  I've
also seen worse.

I've  had to learn to  be strong when I felt  weak,
to be brave when I was sacred, because I needed
it to survive. I don't have everything I want, but
I do have all that I need.

I  woke up with some serious  aches and  pains,
but I woke up.

My  life  may not  be  perfect, but  I have  been
blessed with a son, a daughter, three beautiful
grand daughters, a grandson, and four great
grandchildren and a lot of love.

Be humble when you are victorious, and be
happy,  because  life is just  too  short  to  be
anything else.

You  miss  100% of the shots  you don't take.

Be  thankful  to be alive, knowing  that  every
minute  you are here  will never come  again.                                                               
  ­                                                                 ­                           Jon York  2023

The mathematics of life; add laughter to love, subtract hate
and that equals happiness and when it rains look for a rainbow,
and when it is dark look for stars knowing all along that the
best way to get things done is to simply begin while not ever
being afraid of being different but being afraid of being the
same as everyone else because behind every person is a story
and behind every story is a person.

It only takes one person to change your life forever and that
person is you, not a dream, not a fantasy, but only reality
and behind this  woman I  recently encountered is a story and
I still can't decide which came first, the person or the story,
as her story was that I was her first real love and in spite of
her having been married several times and still being married,
I was still her only real love, a love that no man has ever made
her feel and in spite of the many years that have passed her
love for me still lasts and she wants me and this will not pass.

I have not winced nor cried aloud under the bludgeoning of
chance and my head is ****** but unbowed and I go beyond
this place of wrath and tears as the menace of so many years
find me unafraid and I don't try relentlessly to understand for
time itself will decide my joy of this woman's story. a woman
that I have loved for a very long time over the years that have
passed knowing that my joy will come when it is time even
though so many years I have been too long alone under the
sky wondering why.

So I asked her, "do you ever remind yourself to recall us" as I
forget sometimes to leave thoughts of you behind and I am
still here knowing that I have never forgotten you but as I
learned in the Marine Corps, if you have a problem, take it
out before it takes you out and upon realizing from this story
which she is behind that I am nothing more for her but a a
fantasy or a dream so it would seem because her marriage
has no steam and she needs to live a dream.

So all that I can do is be happy and forget what is gone,
appreciate what still remains while looking forward to what's
coming next knowing that sometimes you have to give up
on people, not because you don't care, because I do care, but
because they don't and because they are just living a fantasy
to keep themselves occupied and one that only benefits them
and the less I give a **** the happier I  will be.
                                                             ­                 Jon York 2017

In my actions I try to write in such a way that
others love to read me and I try to listen in
such a way that others  love to speak to me
so learn that your actions are your only true
belongings and the more that you are motivated
by love the more fearless and free your actions
will be and know the the only real action takes
place on the bridge between people.

We all want our lives to matter and our lives to
make a difference so welcome every day that
you wake up with a smile because today will
never happen again and don't waste it as you
walk through your life going from room by
room drawing up a list of work to be done,
cracks to be patched and don't look for flaws
but look for potential.

Sometimes in our lives when we just get used
to something it fades away so don't allow
waiting to become a habit and live your dreams
and take risks because life is happening now
and every step forward begins with a firmly
planted foot in the past and if it doesn't challenge
you it won't change you so know that the past
cannot be changed, forgotten, edited, or erased,
it can only be accepted.

Don't try relentlessly to understand because time
will decide and your joy will come when it is time
and every single change you have made and every
action you have taken has brought you to this
exact moment of reading my poetry,so have a
good day.                                                   Jon York    2015

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

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

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

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

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

I  have  good days and  bad  days.
And on both I am thinking of you.

Yes, I am thinking about you right
now.  I  thought about  when  this
morning when I woke up....Lovely
perverted, naughty and wickedly
beautiful thoughts.

My hands can't touch you, but my
mind  can't  leave  you  alone.

When I close  my  eyes I see you.
When I open my eyes I miss you.

I  never  craved  attention  until I
tasted yours.

Can  you  feel  me  when  I  think
about you?
                                                            ­                                Jon York   2024

If you have chemistry,
           you only need one other thing.

                                 TIMING

                        But timing's a *****.

                                                         ­                                Jon York   2019

Most of the time
she is like a
hummingbird,
going from place
to place, person
to person always
seeking knowledge
and truth as she
is free in flight but
constantly aware of
looking for a place
to rest for the night.

But for her, life
seems a test and
she is always
successful as as she
searches for food
and something sweet
to fill the hunger
within because she
is just a little bit
faster than the rest.

And in her freedom
of movement, like
the hummingbird,
they are both
creatures of needs
that must be fulfilled
and when sweets
are there she will take
the dare and all you
can do is sit and stare
at her freedom in flight
and wonder where
she might be tonight.
                                     Jon York    2018

Poetry is a way

                      of saying

*** isn't  the  only way

I want to be inside you.
                                                 Jon York  2019

why do. . .the prettiest
                  smiles always
                  hide the
                  deepest secrets
                  and

why are. . .the prettiest eyes
                   always the eyes
                   that have cried
                   the most tears.

why do. . . the kindest hearts
                   always feel the
                    most pain.

why do. . . failures often lead
                   us to success and
                   false discoveries
                   often lead us to
                   the truth.

why do. . . we hold on so
                   tightly when
                   terrified of a
                   loss and fail
                   to just let go.

why does. .happiness
                   always appear
                   to be so
                   frightening and

why don't. .we stop
                     holding on to
                     what hurts and
                     start making
                     room for what
                     feels good.           Jon York       2014

Growing up in the 60's and 70's,
                   I learned to smile
                like  I've  never  cried,
            I  learned  how  to  fight  like
                   I've never lost.

          And as a United   States   Marine
                            in Vietnam
                    I  learned  how  to  ****   
                       so I could make it  
                home   alive  only  to  face
            another war in my head called
                            PTSD or die.

                 And  I  learned  how  to
                              love like
                    I've never been hurt.

                      And I learned to live
                  like  there's  no  tomorrow
               but  how  to  live  in  the  now,
                    and I learned kindness
                 doesn't  cost  a  ****  thing,
                         so I learned how to
                sprinkle  that  ****  everywhere.

                    But most important of all
                        I learned that there's
                only one thing that can make a
                       soul  complete, and
                         that thing is love
                               and that's
                     just the way we rolled.
                                                         ­                                    Jon York   2019

I  hope  everyone  reading  my
words  is  having  a really good  
day, and if you aren't, just know
that  in  every new minute  that  
passes  you  have the opportunity
to change that, and if  you have  
enemies,  it  means you have stood
up for  something,  sometime in
your life.

Vivid colors fill the sky, a chill
runs up my spine, my eyes are
entranced, for it seems like
someone spilled paint across
the sky. Then the colors of the
sky fade and a darkness fills
the empty space. Bright lights
flicker above as the moon tranquilly
floats through the night.
Another beautiful day gone away
and I just felt like writing a poem
about it.

No lovers , no broken hearts in
this write, just a feel good about
the day poem.                                                            ­     Jon York  2021

don't say very accurate, say exact
don't say very cute, say adorable
  "        "   very fast, say swift
  "        "   very loud, say thunderous
  "        "   very slow, say sluggish
  "        "   very shy,  say timid
  "        "   very smart, say intelligent
don't say very strong, say forceful
  "        "   very stupid, say idiotic
  "        "   very sure, say certain
  "        "   very unhappy, say miserable
  "        "   very willing, say eager
sometimes you needn't say anything
at all.
                                  Jon York    2017

All

relationships

go through hell.            Real

                                         relationships

                                          get through

                                           it.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

I hope you wake  up everyday  knowing  

I need your voice. I hope you never stop

believing in  the magic  of  shooting stars

and  may  the  earth  keeps  you  grounded

enough to make the right  choices and may 

your dreams keep you forever in love  with  

imagination.

I hope you never settle for loveless commitments,

or  for just living day to  day with  sad  eyes just

to  exist,  and  when  your   heart  is  shattered

glass  beneath  your  tear  filled  hands,  I  hope

you  remember  every  war  you have  ever won.

It  takes one  moment to hate who you  are and

a  lifetime  to  remember  how  to  love  yourself

again  and ­ this  is  the  most  important  war  to  

ever win.
                                                            ­                             Jon York   2019

Even your breakfast is poetry.
                                                                ­                                 Jon York   2019

You know what
truly aches in me?
Having so much
inside my head
and not having the
   slightest clue
on how to pour
         it out.
                                                                                               Jon York   2019

The  past few  years  may or
may not, have been easy, if
they have not been easy,
they have taught you how
strong you are.

Make 2023 the best year of
your life so far, whether you
are old or young.

Let your wounds be healed,
your apologies be accepted,
your generosity expanded,
your love educated.

May your desires be clarified,
your untold stories be heard,
your insight heightened,
your load lightened.

See your wildness rejuvenated,
your courage stoked,
your fears dissolved,
in the year of 2023.    
Happy new year.                                                            ­                
                                                                ­                              Jon York  2022

The sound of your voice touches 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  I need to
recover from it.

You  can  speak  a  world  into  existence or
empty life of it its meaning and the unspeakable
is  heard  and  felt when  you  speak.

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.

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 nurtures,
I warm myself in its sound as it touches my soul.

When we speak our souls resonate and intimacy
occurs and we attend to what we love and that is
each others voice.
                                                                                            Jon York   2020

Your spirit
  is  a bed
in which my
  loneliness
  can softly
      rest.
                                              ­                                        Jon York   2010

As I looked into those baby blue eyes
I could feel that she was my Angel in
Disguise and as I looked I could see
and feel her soul crying out to me
saying 'where have you been my love,'
'we finally meet again' and 'this time I
need you to stay so that we may begin
again and love me and be there when
I need a hand to hold and someone to
keep me warm from the cold.'

'I will never leave you again,' I said to
her, 'and as long as you love me I will
be at your side and know that my love
is true and if you are with me,'  'I'll try
to make sure that you are never blue.

'We can grow together' I said to her
and 'my love will always surround
you and it will be so much fun to take
away your pain and replace the hurt
with my love and watch you fly like
a dove.'

The magic that we have found will
never run aground because it is so
strong and with very little work it can't
go wrong as these brown eyes are
swelling with tears as I try to ease her
fears, taking away her pain while
letting her know that this time our
love and our time together will last.

'So after all those years' I said to her
'there won't be anymore tears except
those of joy and no more fears and I
have decided that for me there will be
no more cries because I found My
Angel in Disguise.
                                                       ­ Jon York    2018

Back towards her light
so bright I go and if I can
get to her I just don't know
because so much darkness
have I been in for such a
long time until she came
back into my life after so
long being gone, a bright
shining light with hope
that this time around we
could maybe get it right.

And if we both can keep
our feet on the ground
and think with our hearts
and not our heads and
we both play our
designated parts we will
get it right because her
light shines so bright.

What is meant to be will
always find a way and
she found me after
searching high and low
and she knows how she
makes me purr so we
have to dance before the
music is over and we
must live before our
life is over.

Treat me good and I will
definitely treat you
better I said to her as her
light shown down on me
and in that light we both
could see how things
could and should really
be.
                              Jon York    2017

Today, I don't

feel like doing

     anything

except you,  

           I'd do you.

            You,

      me,   whipped

                  cream,

             handcuffs.
    
       any questions?
                                                                                             Jon York   2019

Someday
we'll meet again,

in another lifetime
of course

for in this lifetime
you couldn't be mine.

I'll follow your trails
life after life  

for my soul is bound to yours...

It isn't just love ( for love is
just an illusion in this
illusionary world ).

It is a connection that goes beyond
space and time...
a connection
primordial...

We will meet again...yes my love                               Jon York   2021
again and again
until
we become one
because I'm your home,
your beginning and end.

Learn to love
            without condition, talk
                         without
                 bad  intention,  give
                    without reason,
            and most of all, care for
                    people  without 
                        expectation.
                      Grades don't
                measure  intelligence,
                           and age
              doesn't define maturity.
                        Life is so
             much  easier  when you
                   stop explaining
            yourself and just do what
                    works for you.
                You're  not  here  to
          make others understand you.
                    You are here to
                understand yourself.
            We  come  with  nothing,
                      we go with
                   nothing, but  one
                       great thing
             we can hope to achieve in
                    our beautiful life
                          is a little
                     remembrance in
                        someone's
                   mind and a small
              place in someone's heart.
                                                                                          Jon York   2019

Destined
             are our two souls
     found between light and dark,
          so tender is this certainty
                      of fate.

        When the Sun finally rose,
           delicate hearts didn't
                   burn to ash.

         Sharing deep confessions
             that grow these hearts
                         to one.

          May loving be our reason
                        for living.

        I ask that you warm my heart,
            soften my rigid walls and
                    bend my pride.

            From a blight of nothing
                    is everything
              to morph otherworldly
                            in all
                      that is desire.                                        Jon York   2021

I   LOVE  YOU
    Enough to fight for you,
    compromise for you, and sacrifice
    myself for you if need be.

    Enough to miss you incredibility
    when we're apart no matter what
    length of time it is for and regardless
    of the long distance.

    Enough to believe in our relationship,
    to stand by it through the worst of
    times, to have faith in our strength as
   a couple, and to never give up on us.

    Enough to spend the rest of my life
    with you, be there for you when you
    need me, or want me, and enough to
    never ever want to leave you, or to
    live without you.

    We close our eyes when we pray,
    cry,  kiss or dream because the most
    beautiful things in life are not seen
    but felt by the heart.
                                                                                        Jon York   2019

Every day we have to wade through
a  relentless surge of  soul-less  facts.
The experience  tends to shoot down
our sense of wonder.

Every  day  we  are  over-exposed  to
cynical narratives ****** free of delight
and mystery, which is why we make
strenuous efforts to keep our world enchanted
and why we are constantly feeding our
sense  of  wonder  and  enchantment.

What  we call the beginning is often the
end and to make an end is to make a
beginning.  The  end is where we start
from. When  do we become aware of
those things that we didn't even know
we didn't know?

We are endlessly creating ourselves, so
it would seem that we need magic every day.
                                                                                   Jon York   2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

How awkward
the situation
in retrospect,
how imperfect
the setting.

An act,
an intimate
thing
cut off.

whose
memory
refused to fade.

After
so many years
why does this
fractured
incomplete
thing still
occupy
the choicest
of place of
my thoughts?                                                                   Jon York   2021

Someday,  I'll   no  longer  ache.  
The day when  space no longer  
separates  us, and  our  worlds  
will  collide,and love will have
the  final  say. That  day you'll
be back  in  my  arms, no  more
sorrow,  and  no   more   pain.

The first day  of forever.  On that
day,  all   of  the   years   of   pain,  
all  of  the  compartmentalization,
all the excuses, all  the  cover  ups
when the tears won't stop flowing,
all of the days of barely being able
to  move  under  the  weight  of a
shattered heart...

All of those days will vanish.
They'll fade away. Grief and pain
will be no more when I can once
again see  your  face  search  for
mine.

Love  is lightening  disguised  as
a  sunset.  She will  strike  twice.
That  *****  will burn  you  alive.
 
The soul always knows what to do
to heal itself.  The  challenge  is to  
silence  the  mind.
                                        ­                            Jon York  2019

A true
relationship
is two
imperfect
people
refusing
to  give
up on
each other.
                                                                ­                             Jon York   2019

In school
    you're given the lesson
               then the test.

                   In life
        you're given the test
            then the lesson.

                 One of the
   reasons people fail in life
                 is because
   they listen to their friends
                 and family.

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

       Greatness and madness
                    are next
             door neighbors
                   and they
           borrow each others
                      sugar.

            And in the end
                       all I
                    learned
                       was
           how to be strong
                    alone.                                                           Jon York   2019

The  wind  here  in  
Kansas feels calm and
soothing, but  it whispers  
how foolish I am to think
that my selfish thoughts  
of  "just  one  more  kiss"
would satisfy the aching
in my heart.

There's a hole in my
chest when you're not
with me and I hear your
restless mind echoing in
my fitful dreams.

I feel you in my bones
and my body screams that
it needs to hold you.

I curse the day I ever made
a single tear  fall  from  those
baby  blues.
                                                                                            Jon York   2021

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

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

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

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

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

Believe in yourself.                                                        ­   Jon York   2023

You are like fine whiskey

I'd be honored to taste.

One sip of your warmth leaves

a burn in my hearts place,

but tastes so sweet.

Your body was meant

for my caresses.....

I touch you without

hesitation, no fear...

no limits. For no one

can love me like you.

            Again

you're on my mind,

              again.

             Lovely

        ***** thoughts,

              again.                                  ­                              Jon York   2019

Distance doesn't
    separate  people...      
                  silence does.
In French
you don't say,
" I miss you."
You say  "Tu Me Manques."
which means -
"You are missing from me."
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

I am tired
and I thought you
were better than petty offences
that sit between things that aren't said.

We both have our secrets
but I won't hold the unknowable
to my chest and pretend
like it holds something precious
when all it holds is a "what if"
with no satisfiable answer.

I loved you because you held me
like I was human
but now you push me away
like a toy you've deemed defective.

I don't know what to think,
its hard to believe this is you.

I miss you
though I'm always beside you
grieving, watching you grieve
for a life that's not yet over
but fading with every sunrise
and sunset.                                                                      Jon York    2021

Dream and scheme about your long-range future.
Let your passions run wild, because there is nothing
you can't do if you want to do  it bad enough.

You will always have tomorrows, but when today
is gone, it will never happen again.

What will be story of your life in 2023?  Will you
find graceful ways to cooperate with the tides of
destiny and will you create the adventures that
will bring out the best in you?

Every  minute of every hour of  every day you are
making the world, just as you are making yourself,
so do it with kindness and style.

Say this:  "I will always adore, forgive, and believe
in myself."

"I  will never  forsake, betray,  or deceive myself."
                                                        ­                                      
You don't have to be anything you don't want to be.
You  don't have to feel emotions  that  others try
to manipulate you into feeling.
                                                        ­                                      Jon York  2023

Listen to
                               not
                        the words
                                 I
                          speak but
                           the beat
                       of  my  heart
                               and
                        the rhythm
                                 of
                           my body
                               that
                        knows only
                             your
                             tune.

                         Your touch
                             chose
                                to
                         be for my
                              skin
                        alone and
                              that's
                        how I knew
                                I'd
                             never
                              need
                            anyone
                               else.
                                                                         Jon York   2019

You were the smell
of the first fired wood stove
at the first crisp
of Autumn. You were the smell
of Spring's first rain. You
were the orange glow
of s night snow in the dead
of Winter, you were the
sleepless night before
a Christmas morning.
You were Summer's first thunder,
and final flash of
lightning.
You were , you are
all I've ever looked forward
to.
                                                                                               Jon York   2019

When I was a young boy, growing up in the
middle  of  Oklahoma, I  believed that  there
was right or wrong;  good or bad;  yes or no;
black or white.

It  was easy to  think that way.  How clever I
thought I was, to be so enlightened and decisive,
to have an opinion on everything and to think
I  was right. I wish  I didn't know now what  I
didn't know then.  

As I grew older I realized that sometimes there
is no right or wrong. That some situations have
no good outcome or happy ending. That the answer
can be both yes and no and that manifold factors
must be considered, and that some questions
have no answers.

I don't feel quite so clever anymore, but perhaps
grown wiser since I realized that life operates in
shades of grey and no one really knows the right
way. We all just have to keep going day to day,
doing what we feel is right.
                                                                                          Jon York   2031