The road is long with many a winding turns
of which there is no return and for some it is
straight, smooth. and clear while for others
the road is bumpy and cloudy filled twists
and turns

There are those who never need to worry
about their journey because everything is
handed to them on a silver platter while
for others it seems a different matter as
some have to dig and claw to get down
that road while carrying a much heavier
load making it easier for them to fall.

Don't compare your life to others because
sometimes life isn't fair bit it is still good and
it is too short to waste time hating anyone
because the past cannot be changed and the
future is yet to come and no one is in charge
of your happiness except you.

In all of my life-changing events I have
always chosen life when it would have been
easier to choose a suicide death but I have
forgiven everyone everything and given
time the needed time.

However bad something was and however
many lies I was told I knew it would change
and I would be loved and respected not
because of something I  did or didn't do but
for who and what I am and I realized that
growing old beats the alternative of
dying young.

As a poet I tell my tales with words of truth
that can touch you or burn you and in
those words I know that life is not tied with
a bow but it is still a gift and sometimes
I am impatient and sometimes a little
insecure while I make mistakes along the way
but if you can't handle my worst than you
don't deserve my best.

It's not the words of our enemies that we
remember the most but the silence of our
so-called friends that cuts so deep but over it
this poet won't lose any sleep.          
                                                ­              Jon York     2015