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