The  moon  within  your

eyes swallowed  my sky

and  the  very  fabric  of  

your soul glowed within  

my  heart.


I opened your chest and

tasted   your   soul ;

now my  tongue  drips  

with  moonlight   and

rose petals.


Your  gorgeous  chaos  was

a  danger  to  my  beautifu­l

ordinary life, and it was then

I knew that we might become

beautifully   extraordinary

together.
                                                                ­                        Jon York  2019

All
of these
beautiful
things...

sunlight,
goodness,
stars,
you.
                                                                                              Jon York   2019

Things I want:
        1. You
        2.

So may my smiles
begin   with   you
because   every
love   story   is
beautiful but ours
is   my   favorite.

I love you. You
annoy me more
than I ever
thought
possible. But I
want to spend
every irritating
minute with you.

I never wanted
to be your whole
life -- just your
favorite part.

A woman can
change a man
because she loves                                           Every
him. A man changes                                      day I
himself because he loves her.                       love
                                                            ­              you more.
                                                           ­                                  Jon York   2019

If  you  want   to  be
together,  you  have
     TO-GET-HER.
            and
when  I  saw  her   I
       fell  in  love,
   and she  smiled,
because  she   knew.
                                                           ­                                Jon York   2019

The wrong one makes you
beg for attention, affection,
love, and commitment.  

The right one will give you
these   things  because  she
             loves you.
                                                                               Jon York   2019

One kiss
         on the forehead
                 is much
         sweeter  than  a
    thousand kisses on the
            lips. No lust
but full of love and respect.
              And then I'm
   going to taste every inch
             of you until
        you are quivering
                with need.
     I'm going to make love
         to you until you
   can barely breathe. I am
            going to bring
you to ecstasy over and over
            until you are
     flying high. Once you
               come down,
       I  am  going  to  do  it
           all again. Why?  
      Because you are mine.
                                                                                     Jon York   2019

HAVE  hope
TRY      new things
BE         active
SEE       the good in people
SAY       "I love you" more
CHALLENGE   yourself
CHOOSE to be happy
EAT         better
ENJOY    today - (it will never be here again)
FORGIVE more readily
READ       more often (especially poetry)
BECOME  your best you
                                          
Maybe the journey
isn't so much about
becoming anything.

Maybe  it's   about
unbecoming
everything  that isn't
you so you can be who
you were meant to be
in   the  first  place.
                                                                                     Jon York   2019

Let every breath
that leaves my lungs
be filled with you.
                                                                                            Jon York   2019

Everything
        is  hard  before
             it is easy.
                                                                                       Jon York   2019

The best kiss
               is the
      one that's been
        exchanged a
     thousand  times
    between  the  eyes
        before it ever
             reaches
             the lips
         and the best
   portion of your life
          will be the
      small nameless
           moments
   you spend smiling
          with the one
                  that
               matters
               to you.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

Two   souls  are  sometimes
created together and in love
     before  they're  born.
                                                                               Jon York   2019

You
are an excuse
    to begin
      living
       again.
                                                                          Jon York   2019

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

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

Being
      the most authentic
            version of
     yourself and not
hiding parts of yourself
          has a way of
            eliminating
   judgemental people
        from your life  
             and you
     will  find  out  that
             being you
                 has it's
                 perks.

              Realize that
       you  are  different.
       Always have been.
            It may take
    awhile but realize that
         you are magic
  not meant for everyone
        to understand.
          
            People will
   question you, but that's
             all right,
     just stay in your lane
              being all  
         magical and stuff.
                                                                ­                      Jon York   2019

I felt you before I knew of your existence,
maybe it was a hint from the universe to
continue on the yellow brick road so when
I would find you along my travels I would
simply just know.

We are connected, wide and deep and no
one can remove this connection that we
have because you are part of me, I am
part of you for ever and ever.

I am who I am partly because of you and
you are you partly because of me.

In spite of being apart we connect through
our dreams and we could be a thousand
miles apart, and I'd still know you were
there.

Re uniting with you was like a blaze of
connection-or collision, as we were both
wandering in the same labyrinth and
had finally rounded that corner that
brought us face to face.........................
(phone to phone) and it was a feeling of
being lost and alone, and then suddenly
neither.

I could never hate you because we are
too connected and I couldn't hate you
without hating myself.

Invisible threads are the strongest.

No matter what happens, this much is
certain: our souls are one until life closes
the curtains.

A part of me will always be you and a
part of you will always be me.
                                                             ­   Jon York   2018

She doesn't need me often,
so when she does call
my name,
nothing in hell
or on earth
will stop me from
being by her side.
                                                                                           Jon York   2019

Don't
      chase attention or
affection.  You   are   you.
     this is who you are,
    and   you  are  enough.
              It's not
         up to anyone
               else to
      decide otherwise.

     It's a waste of time
          and energy
      trying to convince
           everyone
   you are this unrealistic
     version of yourself.
       Just be genuine.

    To  the  right  person,
         you will never
            be made to
       feel like you're not
               enough.
Learn  to  let  vulnerability
        inspire you and not
            frighten you.
What makes you vulnerable
        is what makes you
human and I think being
              human is a
           beautiful thing.                                                   Jon York   2019

A soul shattered,
a heart left in pain,
a mind gone insane.

A sort of suffering,
feelings no one can explain.

Once having so much to gain,
the weight of our  physical
distance apart only remains.

Even in the darkest moments
when I feel I cannot see,
I know deep down
you still reside in me.

Like when the first ray of sun
hits the morning dew,
I drew breath the moment
I met you.

                                                                                           Jon York   2021

Time is free and it is priceless
and you can't own it but you
can use it and you can't keep it
but you can spend it, but once
you have lost it you can never
get it back so know that the
trick is to enjoy life and don't
wish away your days waiting
for something to happen.

Life is too short to wake up in
the morning with regrets, so
love the people who treat you
right and forget the ones who
don't and believe that everything
happens for a reason and if you
get a chance, take it and if it
changes your life, let it and
remember that nobody said it'd
be easy, they just promised it
would be worth it.

In the end, only three things
matter: how much you loved,
how gently you lived, and how
gracefully you let go of things
not meant for you.
                                     Jon York    2017

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

If   nothing   lasts  forever,
will  you  be  my nothing?
                                                                                 Jon York   2019

keep your thoughts... POSITIVE because
your thoughts become your WORDS

keep your words....... POSITIVE because
your words become your BEHAVIOR

keep your behavior....POSITIVE because
your behavior becomes your HABITS

keep your habits.......  POSITIVE because
your habits become your  VALUES

keep your values........POSITIVE because
your values become  your    DESTINY

failure is the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely so do something today that your future self will thank you for.
                                                            ­                              Jon York      2016

She  has  a  weakness
        for my lips
   on her neck and my
        words  in  her
    heart.  Neither of
       which does she  
  have  the  will power
           to refuse.
One  of  the   sexiest things
   is a strong woman, made
weak by love. Surrendering
   herself to vulnerability.
    Be protective of that
          because I am
   telling you, that is sacred.
         Honor  her  by  
    honoring her  beautiful  
          vulnerability.
   Sometimes she lies gentle
            and intimate
     other  times  she  needs
      rough and animalistic
          and being able to
           decipher which
                she needs
            and when is the
                      art
            of being a man.                                          Jon York  2019

Life is more than
a song: it is a concert
and life is to be lived
so be thankful for
bad times for they
herald the onset of
the good and know
that the most important
lessons in life are the
most painful.

Remember that the
greatest trees are
humble enough
to bend in the wind
so be strong and you
can bend: be rigid
and you will break
                             Jon York   2015

The mind is
              like water. When it's
           turbulent  it's  difficult
                          to see.
                 When it's calm,
           everything  becomes
                           clear.

                  Sometimes we
            must be hurt in order
                       to grow.
                 Sometimes we
        must  fail in order to know.
                 Sometimes we
            must  lose  in  order
                       to gain.
         Because   some  lessons
                 are  best  learned
                    through pain.

                        Be soft.
            Don't  let  the  world
                 make you hard.
                       Do not let
             the  bitterness  steal
               your sweetness.

                       You learn
           a lot about people when  
               they don't get what
                     they want.
                                                                                         Jon York   2019

Start each
    day with a
      grateful
        heart.
          Be
      strong
        and
    move on.
          It's
        time
      for us
          to
          be
      happy
       again.
    Make time
           to
     take time
           to
         close
     your eyes
           and
       breathe.
     Be brave!
           Be
     the person
      you want
       to have
     in your life.                                                                  Jon York   2019

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

"I love you,"
that means I'm not just
   here for the pretty
             parts.

           I'm here
      no matter what
                and
         good things
       happen, when
         love is real.
            we will
            be okay.
         Let's root for
        each other and
          watch each-
          other grow.
       When you can't
       find the sunshine,
        be the sunshine.
                                                       ­                                     Jon York   2019

In French you don't say
"I  miss  you".   You say
"tu me manques", which
means "you are missing
from me."
I love that.

Do  what  makes  your
soul shine. Take time to
make  your soul  happy.
Put yourself at the top
of  your  to-do  list.

Sometimes I amaze myself.
Other times I can't remember
what day it is.

Be brave
Be kind
Be happy
Be creative
Be thankful
Be you.                                                                                Jon York   2024

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

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 want my eyes to
              set the fire to your soul.

                  I want my hands to
                 set  fire  to  your  skin.

                  I want my words to
              set fire to your mind and

                  I want those words to
               free your soul, to release
               your dreams and un cage
                    your imagination.

                   I want to see every
                part of you blushing and
                       burning for me.
                                                                                               Jon York  2020

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

Fifty years, a lifetime for some, but for me,
a blink of an eye, as true love is the ripe fruit
of a lifetime, and the years have seemed to
me but a few days for the love I have had
for her, like great love, lives on, and on

I love you more today than yesterday and
our love, forever warm, and still to be enjoyed,
forever panting and forever young and in the
light and warmth of love, our life grows strong
and comely, a better dwelling, nor a sweeter
I  never found, knowing that the heart  that
has truly loved never forgets and loves on to
the close.

No matter what beauties I saw on my way
back to you; they are but visits, but you are
my home and chance cannot change my love,
nor time impair, knowing that love beyond
the world cannot be separated by it, as great
love lives on, and on.

Let us tend love's fire until the end knowing
that youth is but an hour, beauty a flower,
but love is the jewel that wins the world, and
as age enriches true love, these five words I
swear to you; I'll be there for you, and know
that I'd live and die for you, but my words
can't say what love can do, and as you breathe,
I want to be the air for you.

Somewhere there waits in this world of ours
the crowning glory of loving and being loved
and what is earth, with all its art, poetry, and
music worth---compared with love found and
kept, and defining love as two souls in one,
two hearts into one heart, and saying that he
is not a lover who does not love forever.
                                                        ­   Jon York    2017

Refuse to  think that anyone  else knows
better  than  you what  dreams will keep
your life energy humming with maximum efficiency.

****  out   wishy-washy  wishes   and  
lukewarm    longings   that  keep  you
distracted   from  your  burning desires.

Tell yourself and tell the world  that you
know  exactly what  you  want  and you
know  exactly what you  don't want and
you know exactly what you kind of want
but you won't waste your time on it because
it  sidetracks  you  from working on what
you really want.

Be  willing  to make mistakes  if someone
else is willing to learn from them. To hell
with boring enlightenment; I want brilliant perplexities.

                   Fall out of love with fear.
                                                           ­                                     Jon York   2022

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

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

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

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

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

Don't
    expect
        to
       see
        a
    change
     if you
      didn't
      make
        one.
   The secret
         of
     change
        is to
   focus all of
  your  energy,
      NOT on
fighting the old,
        but on
    BUILDING
           the
          new.                                                                        Jon York   2019

Don't
         let
   the weight
          of
   the world
         burn
           you
         down.
                                                                                            Jon York   2019

I  write songs without a  tune,
I'm a story teller, stories based
on my life's strange and weird
happenings and events that I
can't forget. I write of odd and
out of place interactions with
seemingly unreal people.

I write about the news, sometimes
about my feelings, my various
loves and lovers,and sometimes I
just write, not knowing where
my  words are coming from,
almost as if someone was using
me as a tool, writing through me.

Be  a  fighter, get  up and  dust
yourself off for life isn't a fairy tale,
there is no knight in shining armor
who will ride in and save the day.

Be  your own  hero, learn  to walk
alone because all the so-called knights
are busy polishing their own armor.                             Jon York  2022

The human heart always forgives,
                   no matter
               what it is told,
            even when we give
        most of it to another and
                     forget to
                   keep a little
                           for
                     ourselves
                       and it
                won't come easy

                 but it will come.
                                                                                          Jon York   2019

My   weakness
was   chocolate
         and bacon,
but now it's you.
                                                                              Jon York   2019

Many people
     would be scared
if they saw in the mirror,
        not their faces,
   but their character.
              Find
         someone
    who makes you
     laugh in public

   and scream in bed.
                                                                                        Jon York   2019

ATTRACT
              what you
                 expect,
               REFLECT
              what you
                 desire,
               BECOME
              what you
                 respect,
                     and
               MIRROR
             what you
                 admire.

             And    decide,  commit,    succeed
             and  may  your  heart  be  BRAVE
             your   mind    FIERCE  and   your
                                       spirit always FREE.

              Surround    yourself  with   people
              who   will  make you   hungry  for
              LIFE,   touch    your  HEART   and
                                     nourish   your  SOUL.

               Show     kindness     to    someone
               - a  kindness   that was  not  asked
                                        for and unexpected.

               We can't always  choose the  music
              LIFE plays for us, but we can choose
                                        how we DANCE to it.
                                                             ­                                Jon York   2019

I love sarcasm. It's
like punching people in the
   face but with words.
                                                                              Jon York  2019

By  the  way,
I'm  wearing
the  smile  you
gave   me.

We may not have
it   all   together,
but    together,
we  have  it  all.
                   ­                                                                 ­       Jon York  2019

Be so  good
they    can't
ignore  you.
                                                                                      Jon York   2019

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

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

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

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