The fear from combat in a war
doesn't just go away, you just
have to learn how to use it
and I choose to write because
it is my escape and it gives me
such a needed break from all
of those ugly thoughts.

I wrestle with the demons of
doubt, with my past failures,
with my injuries, with that
unrelenting voice that tells me
to stop life and to give up living,
but I was once a Marine, one of
the chosen few, and from
the Corps I  knew one thing
and that is I will be
victorious.

I sometimes have to walk
backwards so that I can see
the road I just walked and
can connect with my inner self
and as a writer I can look at
my canvas from a different
perspective turning bad events
into beautiful words.

Life provides the contours and
as poets we provide the shading
and the color knowing that the
wheels will keep turning, the Sun
will keep shining, just as the stars
will keep falling and the moon
will keep shining.                         Jon York         2014