I might be having a bad day, but at least
I am having a day when for so many this
day is their last day in their journey of life
and life is like an ocean, it can be calm,
still, rough and rigid but in the end it is
all beautiful and the best thing you can
do is to believe in yourself.

Take it day by day and be grateful for
every breath that you take and realize
that you are not a product of your
circumstances but a product of your
decisions and recognize that along the
way of your journey that sometimes
you must fight a battle more than once
to win it.

Have the courage to embrace dreams
and the strength to sacrifice for them
and the determination to fulfill them
and don't wait around to do it because
life goes by us so much faster than you
think and in the end we are all just
human and that should be enough.

Learn quickly that you alone are
responsible for the quality of your life
and when you decide that your life is
your own that is when your life really
begins so decide what you want and
decide that there is no better time than
right now to get it no matter where
you are in the years of your life.

Nothing haunts us more than the
things we didn't say or the things that
we should have done but Hell is something
that you carry around with you, not
somewhere to go and sometimes we
survive by forgetting what we should
have said or done and find that courage
is that quiet voice at the end of the day
saying, "I will try again tomorrow".
                                                      ­                        Jon York     2018

With the sound of your voice you
touch 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 the need
to recover from it.

You can speak a world into existence
or empty life of its meaning and the
unspeakable is heard and felt when
you speak to me, and as I hear your
voice I am touched.

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.

With your voice you banish fear,
soothe and caress challenges and
delights and when you speak the
subject does not matter but for me
the sound of your voice does.

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
nurture's me I warm myself in
it as it touches my soul.

When we speak our souls resonate
and intimacy occurs and we attend
to what we love and who we love
and that is the sound of each others
voice and one another.

Should you speak to me in urgency
or despair gladly I would take
on the world for you and you know
this and  P S, I Love You
                                                  Jon York     2018

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

I reached for you like the
branch of a tree reaching
for the sun and like the
sun you surrounded me
with warmth and love.

And like the sun your
shine so bright and like
the tree I grew in your
direction able to feel
the love that you were
sending.

In that growth I was able
to feel the changes that
were taking place in my
life and being, from the
love that I was receiving.

You filled my life with
love and showed me how
to give love as well as
how to receive love and
grow.

Now we grow together
as one knowing that we
cannot and will not ever
be undone knowing that
we are changed forever
and we never have to
look back at what we
left behind ever.
                                   Jon York    2018

Have the courage
to stand for
something, do not
be content to wait
and see what will
happen and have
the determination
to make the right
things happen,
and they will.

Recognize and use
opportunities that
come your way
and make it your
day and your life
will start going
the right way and
listen to your heart
from the very start.
                           Jon York   2018

Just around the corner
is my first love in her
great city that has no
end; the days go by,
the weeks rush on,
and before I know it
a year is gone, and I
never get to see her
face or touch her skin
again, for life is a swift
and terrible race.

She knows that I still
love her and I know
that she still loves me
just as well as in the
days when I rang her
bell and she rang mine,
but we were so much
younger then and the
time has gone by so
fast that is almost a
sin.

And now I am a busy,
tired old man and
tomorrow comes--
and tomorrow goes
and the distance
between us grows
but she is still just
around the corner--
yet miles away but
maybe I will get to
see her, touch her and
hold her once  again
someday.
                          Jon York    2018

When silence speaks, embrace
the qualities; love, kindness,
caring, integrity, honesty and
trust and thank those around
you for their love, patience
and forgiveness.

Be loving, patient and forgiving
with others and be a true friend
to someone today- someone
who is in trouble, lonely or
frightened and extend an
uplifting hand to someone today
who needs it.

Distinguish between what is
important and the glitter
knowing it is easy to forget
and the temptations for glitter
seem always to be there and
realize that we all have the
strength to endure the
misfortunes of others and
when you are hurting and
confused, have the courage to
share that hurt with your loved
ones so that they may be
supportive.

Bury all bitter and unkind
thoughts and free yourself from
self-pity knowing that the love
within you is replenished as you
give love to others and when
your words and deeds contradict
each other, be aware of it and
don't be so quick to see faults in
others and have the courage to
shed those faults knowing that
time is all we have-savor it not
save it.
                                      Jon York   2018

We always have a choice and
it is our choices that show what
we truly are far more than our
abilities so when you get the
chance to sit it out or dance,
give faith a fighting chance....

I hope you dance and remember
that it is your choice, it is your
life and what we do comes
from what we think.

We always have a choice, we
can let circumstances harden
us or we can let them soften
us and make us kinder, it is
your choice so remember that
the truth is that you are
responsible for what you think,
because it is only at this level
that you can exercise choice.

We choose only once, we choose
to be warriors or to be ordinary
and know that a second choice
does not exist, not on this earth,
so love yourself, trust your
choices and everything is possible.

If you start looking at life with
joy, sadness starts disappearing,
so know that you cannot have
heaven and hell together but you
can only have one, it is your choice
and remember, life's not about
hoping and wishing, it's about
doing, being and becoming.
                                                      Jon York    2018

Every accomplishment starts
with the decision to try and
limitations live only in our
minds but if we use our
imagination, our possibilities
become limitless.

The road is long with many a
winding turns and if you are
always on the road not to
reach a goal but to enjoy its
beauty and its wisdom, life
ceases to be a task and
becomes natural and simple,
in itself an ecstasy.

If there's something special
you want to do, now is the
time...if you want to make a
difference in the world, now
is the time. Don't be fooled  
into thinking you should wait
until you are older or wiser or
more 'secure' or that it is just
around the corner, because it
doesn't work that way.

The wisdom will come. The
security will come. But first
you must begin your adventure
realizing that it is not waiting
for you 'just around the corner,'
for our wisdom is the point of
view from which we come at
last to regard the world.
                                               Jon York     2018

A strong                 You can't always wait for            The way I love is
relationship                   the perfect time.                           relentless. It
starts with                   Sometimes, you                            breaks my
two people                    have to dare                             concentration
who are ready             to do it because                       when I am busy
to sacrifice                   life is too short                           and drifts my
anything for               to wonder what                           mind away to
each other.                  could have been.                      thoughts of you
                                                             ­                           when I am in the
                                                             ­                                middle of
                                             I want to                       conversations. Like
No relationship                  wake up                       a desperate needy
is all sunshine,                   at 2:00 am,                          child it pokes
but two people                    roll over,                              and prods
can share one                   see your face                          tirelessly for
    umbrella                         and know                             my attention,
and survive                     that I'm right                               and in
   the storm                         where I'm                           the end always
     together.                         supposed                                  gets it.
                                                  to be.

     Love is when you
    sit beside someone           You don't always               Dear Ladies:
       doing nothing                   need a plan.                you should never
         yet you feel                   Sometimes you                      need to
      perfectly happy.                 just need to                 to prove to other
                                                  breathe, trust,                women that he's
     The less                               let go, and see              in love with you.
     you talk                                what happens.                That's his job.
     the more
      people                                Ask yourself        
   think about                           if what you                   Don't fall in love
   your words.                       are doing today                 with someone
                                                 is getting you                who always says
                                                closer to where                the right things.
                                                  you want to                       Fall in love
                                                be tomorrow.                   with someone
                                                         ­                                     who always
       Jon York     2018                                                             ­     does
                                                                ­                          the right things.

She floats free of time carrying our hopes
for love, joy and celebration as her delicate
grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is
everywhere and all you have to do is open
your eyes.

Every personal connection has meaning and
a reason and laughter is life's sweetest creation
and with brave wings she flies realizing that
spiritual knowing will never have a written
understanding.

She glitters, half guessed, half seen above
her surroundings and over her home a flashing
blip and she's gone and she lends to the eye
if this - a sunbeam giving the air a kiss.

A flash of harmless lightening, a mist of rainbow
dyes, the burnished sunbeams brightening as
if from flower to flower she flies knowing that
only from the heart can you touch the sky.

She sips the sweet moments and lets her true
colors glow and doesn't get her feathers ruffled
over little things as she just wings it, taking
herself lightly, knowing that good things
sometimes comes in small packages.

How the mind can fly, hovering for that everlasting
love light, a love that excites and connects with
her soul as she flutters here with a twitter there
like a hummingbird in flight prying for the sweetest
nectar and crying out to catch more than trite.

Underlying is her sugary passion as she darts in
fright in a tangle of steaming energy, alluring
nectar she seeps with all her might as she lets her
heart love tenderly.

She welcomes a ****** day and after reaping rewards
of a long journey, she decides it is time to rest and
play and after watching the light as it dwindles
into a dome, she must fly now, back to the place
she calls home.
                                                           ­        Jon York    2018

Never make                     In the end we            Better days are coming
someone                           regret chances            you've been through
a priority                             we didn't                   a lot. Now it's time
when all you                          take.                          for you to shine.
are to them
is an option.                                                      
                                        Sometimes life is           She is delightfully
   Have                              about risking              chaotic; a beautiful
a nice life.                        everything for            mess. Loving her is a
I'm done                         a dream no one          splendid adventure.
trying to be                     can see but you.
   in it.                                                              ­                   Just because
                                                         ­                                     someone
The older I get                      Sadly. the only way         deserves you,
the more I realize that       some people ever learn       it does not
the ultimate luxury              to appreciate you is         mean that they
      is time.                                 by losing you.                   that they
                                                            ­                                   value you.
If they do it often               LAW OF ATTRACTION
it isn't a mistake. It's           When you truly want
just their behavior.            something and go after          There comes
                                            it without limiting yourself      a point in
                                             with disbelief, the universe      your life
                                                will make it happen.             when you
Give her the respect                                                          ­      realize          
       she deserves                              Before                     ­  who matters,
but make her knees weak            something               who never did,
at the thought of your touch.         great              who won't anymore,
      be a gentleman.                        happens,        and who always will.
                                                         everything       And in the end you
                                                            f­alls                   learn who is fake,
                                                           ­ apart.                   who is true and
                                                             ­                          who would risk it
                                                              ­                                 all for you.
                                             Jon York   2018

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

Love is unselfish,
understanding and
kind,for it sees with
its heart and not with
its mind.

Love is the answer
that everyone seeks...
love is the language
that everyone speaks...

Love can't be bought
it is priceless and free
and love, like pure magic
is a sweet mystery!

My true-love hath my heart
I have hers,
my heart in me keeps her
and me in one,
my heart in her thought
and senses guide  
she loves my heart, for once
it was her own.

I cherish her heart because
in me it bides
my true-love hath my heart,
and I have hers,
making two fractional lives
a whole.
                           Jon York   2018

Your mind is so powerful because it
can invent, create, experience, and
destroy things with thought alone
and  don't waste words on people
who deserve your silence, knowing
that sometimes the  most powerful
thing you can say is nothing.

Everything you want is just on the
other side of fear and know that
when you try to control everything,
you enjoy nothing.

Believe what a person shows you, not
what someone else told you about
them and don't talk just act, don't say
just show, and don't promise just
prove, because until you are broken,
you don't know what you're made of.

Be the best reason someone smiles
today and realize that you were given
life because you're strong enough to
live it and remember to smile big,
laugh often and never take this life
for granted,

know your life is your message to
the world so make sure it's inspiring
and know sleep, hugs, kisses, love,
friends, memories, smiles, laughter,
and fun, the best things in life, are
free so keep smiling....and one day
life will get tired of upsetting you.
                                                       Jon York    2018

The greatest gift you
      can give someone                                In life
            is your                                         what you
            TIME                                          rea­lly want;
  because when you                             will never
     give your time                                   come easy.
   you are giving a
portion of your life
that you will never                                            Be careful
         get back.                                                      who you
                                                             ­              pretend to be.
                                                             ­                You might
                                                           ­                  forget who
     The greatest                                                        y­ou
       challenge                                                           are.
        in life is
  DISCOVERING                              If you are
WHO YOU ARE.                         PERSISTENT,
     The second                               you will get it.
       greatest is                                    If you are
   being HAPPY                            CONSISTENT,
WITH WHAT YOU                     you will keep it.
            Find.    
                                       ­                                                       We don't
                                                                ­                            meet people
                                                      No matter how           by accident,
   Forget all the                               impossible                 they are
    reasons why                           unattainable, or            meant to
   it won't work                            unimaginable              cross our
          and                                     something may            path for a
      BELIEVE                            seem....if it's meant           reason.
          the                                       to be, it'll be.
        ONE
    REASON
         why                                     The best way      
        it will.                                   to appreciate           The most difficult
                                                      s­omeone is to            thing to explain
                                                      ima­gine your                 in life is
                                                        life without          the simplest truth
                                                           them.                      called LOVE.

    The hardest
    thing about,
  "EVERYTHING
  HAPPENS FOR
    A REASON"
   is waiting for
     the reason                                              Jon York   2018
       to come
        along.

Waiting is so hard.                   Love is not                Just the thought
  But I'll spend as much                finding                       of being with
time alone as I have to if          someone to                           you
    that means getting to               live with,                    tomorrow is
       spend the rest                       It's finding               enough to get me
          of my life                      someone you can't          through today.
               with                             live without.
               you.                                                             ­       
                                                         ­                                        I will stop
                                              Mornings would                    missing you
           I want to                       be so much                          when I am
       grow old with                    better if                                   with
         you and be                  I woke up next                            you.
           able to                             to you.
         say that I
       have had an                                                               ­     Your voice
   amazing life with               In case you                                 is my
               you.                        ever foolishly                             favorite
                                                forget: I am                                sound.
                        ­                         never not
       It doesn't                         thinking of
          matter                               you.                                   You stole my
    where I am;                                                              ­           heart, but
     I am yours                         My lips                                I guess I'll let
                                                  miss       ­                                     you
                        ­                          yours                                  ­    keep it.
      Every time                                        You give
I see you I'm more                                    me
    convinced we                                  the kind of                 I am so
         belong                                             feeling               ready for our        
       together.                                      people write                  our
                                      ­                            novels                     future
   Cuddling                                              about.     ­               together.
    with you
   would be                                                              J­on York   2018
      perfect
  right now.

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 can be sweet as candy,
                    mean as an alligator,
cold as winter in Kansas,
hot and **** as a dancer on her
                                    stripper pole,
and loyal like a soldier but it
                        all depends on you.

There's a fire burning in her.......
                    and if loved correctly,
she will warm your entire home,
if abused, she will burn it down,
       so spoil her with loyalty, she
                       can finance herself.

She never finds the need to
     explain herself to anyone and
she doesn't need anyone's
approval as she lives her life and
       does what makes her happy.

She is wise and wary of flames but
still she knows she will survive the
fire life scorches sometimes as she
has been a phoenix before and
every time she burns to ashes she
knows exactly how to rise again.

All she wants is someone that sees
    the fire in her eyes and wants to
play with it and she is not looking
  for a knight, she is looking for a
                                                sword.
Strong women scare weak men but a strong man can make a strong woman go weak in the knees and it is not how we make mistakes but how we correct them that defines us and we know that a great relationship doesn't happen because of the love we had in the beginning, but how well we continue building love until the end, and I love her I promise.
                                                        ­                                 Jon York   2018

Goddess of light
Giver of wisdom
You are the North star
         of my soul.

I've searched the worlds
of beauty and chaos
          for you.

From life time to life time,
star to star,world to world,
through torrential storms,  
great wildernesses and
primitive civilizations.

I've passed through them
all in search of you and
at times you were just a
memory - a previous
fragrance embraced -
and that was enough
          for me.

Onward I went into countless
unknowns always in search
          of you.

I fashioned a piece of visual
poetry that held my most
essential memory of you
and I cast it into the inner
and outer universes as a
beacon...a homing beacon.

If only you would see it,
I prayed, it would let you
know that I am here for
          you.

You saw my poem and
you quickly pulled me
          to you.

Lost in love I've returned
to my beloved sweet
          embrace.

The trails were long and
storms were great, the
missions were meaningful,
but nothing compares to
           you.

Again we have found one another across the vast illusion of
          separation
                                           ­                                   Jon York    2018

Nothing can break the souls bond
between twin flames and no matter
how long you are apart or what
happens you are always connected
and sometimes two souls are even
created together and in love before
they're born.

Once a deep and powerful connection
between two people has been made
they become a vital part of each
others lives and there is no
separating them and no measure
of distance or duration of silence
can prevent the outbreak of smiles
and laughter or the strong desire
to leap into each other's arms when
they come together once more.

My soulmate lives her life like a
flame; A dance of purposeful chaos,
Her enchanting light can guide you
and quell your fears....She's hot;
warming those who respect her
and burning those who don't..She
is a flame with an unforgettable
glow...A weak man will try to dim
her luminance ... but her Soulmate
will have pleasure in fanning the
blaze as I try to do but "soulmate"
is an overused term, and a true
soul connection is very rare, but
very real and a soulmate will always
be someone who will make you the
most "you" that you can possibly
be as she does for me.

She is a mystery to me, yet so
familiar like a song I've never heard
before and a tune I've known my
entire life, knowing that we are
spiritual beings in human form
with a desire  to simply connect
with a soul who feels like home.

The moment our souls connected,
our hearts became one and now every
day that I communicate with her I
can feel our love continue to grow
stronger...stronger with loyalty,
respect and encouragement and
I am so happy to share my life with
her spirit and as we grow old
together,as we continue to change
with age, there is one thing that
will never change...I will always
keep falling in love with her.                          Jon York   2018

Will you trust me with your heart as I trust you with mine if
I promise. . .
to be your strength when you are weak
and your voice when you can't find the
words to speak and if
I promise. . .
to give you faith
when you are insecure and if
I promise. . .
to listen to you
when you need to talk and if
I promise. . .
to always hold you
when you need to be held and if
I promise. . .
to be your smile
when you are frowning and if
I promise., . .
to always tell you what is real
when you want to hear the truth and if
I promise. . .
to be your dream catcher
to chase away you're every fear and if
I promise. . .
to tell you no lies
but just what is true and if
I promise. . .  
I will try to lift you up
when you are feeling down and if
I promise . . .
to be your strength
when ever you are falling down and if
I promise. . .
to never hurt you
or break your heart and
you know that
I can't promise you the world and I can't promise you the sky or promise you that we will never fight or that you will never cry but I can promise you that I will always be true till the end of time, so will you trust me with your heart as I trust you with mine knowing that our success won't just happen by default but can and it will happen by design.                                                          ­                Jon York   2018

What does the word Love mean?
is it only a dream or is it two
people sharing their lives  together
forever.

Is Love a promise that we make?
a promise to only be with  each
other or a promise that there will
be no other.

Is Love a feeling or a thought?
or maybe it is something that
we all want.

Is Love a choice that we make or
maybe a chance that we take.  

I wish you could see what I feel
when I hear your voice because
it gives me hope and I can feel
its love as my heart beats for you,
my eyes search for you and my
love always wants to be near you.

I have loved you for so long with
all my heart and soul and after
being apart for so long you found
me broken and made me whole.

I honor your light, your love, your
truth, your beauty and the peace
within you because it is also within
me and in sharing these things we
are united and we are the same and
we are one and we both know and
understand that happiness is a
choice, not a result so we breathe,
believe, and receive.
                                                           Jon York    2018

Once in awhile, right in the
middle of ordinary life, love
gives us a Fairy Tale because
true love has a habit of coming
back and because true love is
not something you go out and
look for, true love finds you
and when it does, ready or not,
it'll be the best thing to ever
happen to you.

She said to me, "forgive me for
being a dreamer and I took her
hand and replied, "forgive me
for not finding you again sooner
and being there to dream with
you and to help you make those
dreams come true.

Everything comes to you at the
right moment so just be patient
knowing that there is no path to
happiness: happiness is the path
and when it is time for two souls
to meet again, there's nothing on
earth that can prevent them from
meeting, no matter where each
may be located.

Souls that belong to each other
will always find their way back
together and everything will
come to you at the right moment
so there is no reason to rush,
because if something is meant
to be, it will happen at the
right time with the right person
for the right reason and know
that in the end love is composed
of a single soul inhabiting two
bodies.
                                               Jon York   2018

Being deeply loved by someone
gives you strength, while loving
someone deeply gives you courage
and sometimes in a lifetime you
meet that one special soul who
fills your very essence to almost
overflow and you find that love is
the gentle embrace between body
and soul.

The soul that lives in the heart,
no distance can prevail, an inner
spark within the heart becomes
a holy grail, the starting of a
journey in which you both shall
be a reflection of each other for
all eternity and you will say to
one another, "I am yours, you
are mine because our hearts
and our souls are entwined and
I love you with my soul because
the soul never stops and never
forgets."

"The melding of our bodies,
the surging of our two souls,
and the love between us keeps
us from growing old," and you
will hardly be able to see where  
one of you begins or the other
person ends, and what a special
way to age, by being together
having grown like parsley
and sage.

I did not know what love was,
until I knew what love was not.
                                                         Jon York   2018

Fifty years, a lifetime for some but for me the blink
of an eye as true love is the ripe fruit of a lifetime
and those fifty years have seemed to me but a few
days.

The love I have had for her , like great loves,  lives
on and on and I love her more today than yesterday
and our love, forever warm and still to be enjoyed
is forever panting and forever young.

In the light and warmth of love our life grows
strong and comely, a better dwelling nor a sweeter
I have 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 were 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  loves live 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 of its Art, Poetry and Music
worth--compared with love found and kept,
defining love as two souls in one, two hearts
into one heart knowing that he is not a lover
who does not love forever.
                                                        ­           Jon York    2018

You make me laugh
        when I want to cry
You make me live
        when I want to die
You make me smile
        when I want to frown
You turned my life
        upside down
Because you are deep
        inside my heart
And I knew it from
        very start.

Your love. . .
warms me like my
         favorite morning
         coffee
Your love. . .
comforts me like the
         August heat at
         our Lake home
Your love. . .
melts me from my
         head to my toes
Your love. . .
means everything to
         me and I will
         never let it go.

True love only comes
once in a lifetime yet
         it lasts an eternity
         and will withstand
         the test of time,
         forever waiting
         until its love is
         returned.
                                 Jon York  2018

Don't try relentlessly to understand because only time
itself will decide and there really is no reason to be sad,
because it is written for you: your joy, my joy, our joy
together, will come when it is time.

I barely remember the first time that we met but I
distinctly remember when you said hello and it was a
voice that sounded love to me and I didn't know that
love could be this way, my food and my drink, the sun
all day, my dreams at night, and my thoughts all day,
everyday.

Her love is in my words when I write my poetry,in my
tears that I cry because we are apart and in my tears
when I think about all of those missed years when we
could have been together but chance and circumstance
chose otherwise and my sadness I can not disguise but
what we have the now is special even thought apart.

As I read her letters to me I realize it won't be too very
long before we will both can make a new start and I am
learning now that the many years away did not fade
my memories of the lines of our dialogue nor make
vague the dates and places that we used hide to kiss
and touch and discover each others skin and lips

My hands still remember all of the contours of her body
and I can clearly feel her touch when we were so young
and I am glad that we were like singing birds free to fly
away in search of other songs but eager to return to one
another because we both had a dream of love and we
now look for that dream in hidden places of the future
an in secret places of our hearts.  
                                                                ­                   Jon York   2018

Life is about                    Be selective in                     Don't ask why          
       moments,                        your                                  someone           don't                             battles              ­          keeps hurting you
wait for them,                          for                               ­       ask
     create them.                      sometimes                    why you keep
                                            peace is better                    letting them.
                                            than being right.
       You                                                              ­                     Have
always have                            The best                                     a
        a                                  way to get things                       dream        
     have a                                       done                     ­            of love
     choice.                                         is                                and look for                                                       simply     ­                              it
                                ­                       begin.                                   in
                                                             ­                             hidden places of
                                              You             ­                          the future.
        Be proud              have never been
          of who                       mine                            I didn't know that
         you are                  but I was                             love could be
         and not                     yours.                                 this way.
    ashamed of how                                               ...my sun all day,
somebody else sees                                                 my dreams at night,
             you.                                                             ­   my thoughts,
                                                       ­                                  words,
                       ...my lips and skin                               tears, hopes.
                       will still remember.                               ....my joy!
                          My hands will
           will still know all the contours and
               clearly feel the touch of you.
                                                            ­                             Jon York    2017

Love is what I feel                 Let those                         Love is
but can't define,                          who                         an ancient
          for                                    always  ­                          story
    definition                   ­            loved                                 yet,
would make it                            now                                ­ it is
       less.                                       love                             ever new.
                                               the more.

Time is too slow for those                                            Love            ­    
who wait. too swift for those                                    spends                  ­  
who fear, too long for those                                          all            
who grieve, too short for those                                and still        
who rejoice, but for those                                           hath                
who love, time is not.                                                 store.       Jon York
                                                            ­                                                 2017
Love is like the measles               The                     Time makes
you can't have it bad                heart                          all but
but once, and the later         that loves                     true love
in life you have it the                 is                                 old.
tougher it goes with           always young.
you.                                                      ­                                  Love
                          ­                   Love is something                  looks not
I can bear to die--                              eternal-                 with the eyes
I cannot bear to                  the aspect may change          but with
    leave her.                          but not the essence.              the mind.

Each day passes by and
I silently cry wishing it
weren't so that she is so
far away, and why does
it has to be that way on
this cold winter day I
just don't know, because
she needs and craves
my warmth so.

In the past we were one
and losing her was very
sad but so many years
later I am glad that we
started again because
again I have found the
one who showed me
how real loving is done.

But as each day passes
by I will cry forever until
she and I reunite for then
I have won the fight and
being with her again will
be such delight and such
a stunning sight to see,
walking hand in hand
laughing with smiling
into the night.
                             Jon York   2017

It's a new day and time for love
It's romantic and very clear
and as each moment passes
I long for you to be near.

The early morning clouds
Some are white, and some blue
I look at them in a daze
And dream of being with you.

I picture places in my mind
All  the places that we could be,
Like the ocean, the sand, or mountains
And just having you near me.

We could go to your island
That would be far, far away
with beautiful trees and sand
And we'd stay for more than a day.

We'd spend each of the nights
Holding each other so strong
Each morning together still
And no one to say it is wrong.

All day we'd play and smile
Because we finally got away
It was us forever and ever
It was us for more than a day
                                                 Jon York      2017

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

It is STILL THE SAME for a Vietnam combat Veteran and
I am sixty-nine and it has been forty-seven years since I
returned home to America after standing up for our flag
and fulfilling my job which was to **** and as a highly
trained Marine that is exactly what I did for 13 months,
taking many lives every day and at the end of the day all
that we could say is how many did we **** today?

They called us grunts and side by side we fought and died
fighting a war that we thought we could win and every day
and night it took all our training to survive and side by side
we fought for our flag as many of our friends returned
home in a body bag.

Seems like I write about Veterans Day every year and here
in 2017 IT IS STILL THE SAME for Vietnam combat
Veterans: we lived through the war, now we die at home,
we are suicide soldiers who beat the odds, but we die alone
without our squads, and we totally look forward to death,
so we can find peace and we can get some rest.

IT IS STILL THE SAME: we can never forget the eyes, the
death rattling sounds that our mind seeks to drown and
the labored breathing and vacant lifeless eyes of life loss
that we despise as we spend a lifetime with segmented
visions of memory recalling death and life in vivid color
images because with death and dying you never forget
the eyes, friend or foe and we still hear their cries.

2017 at home IS NOT THE SAME for there are those who
refuse to stand for our flag and continue to disrespect our
country and those who fought and died for it and to those
who choose not to stand can just get out of my land that
I stood up and fought for called America.
                                          Jon York   2017
                                    USMC Vietnam 69-70

Where have you been hiding my
love,as each day without you will
never come again as I have sought
you for so long that you surely
must feel the pulsing of my endless
longing and I have sought you
since childhood and I care not whose
you were or even whose you are
because the sound of your voice
and your words tell me that you
are mine and that you are waiting.

Till now my life has been but a fools
mission as they mock the madness
of my searching, my work, my
talents are but ashes,my poetry
only unshed tears that flow like
rivers in my desperate search for
you.

I wait in hope and sorrow thinking
and hoping that you will come to
me some tomorrow and connect our
souls just one more time after what
seems like several lifetimes, or is it
all a dream, but you need to know
that I have bravery to spend on pain,
faith to wall up fear, and courage
to fight danger when it comes, but
there is no defense against loneliness,
but my love shall always be because
when I love, I love with my heart,
I love with everything in me, and
I love deeply and you hold my
heart in your hands,so please handle
it with care.

You are my mortal muse, the one
to inspire my heart, move my soul
and take my mind away to
destinations unknown and you
open my eyes to a reality not seen
and you awaken the creativity that
burns inside of me.
                                        Jon York    2017

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

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

Can you move on from what
you are to what you need to
become and can you re-define
winning, embrace the
unexpected, help everyone go
further faster, accept change
and accelerate growth, and if
you can complete all or most
of the above, you have a good
start on the next chapter of
your life.

Tomorrow belongs to the fast,
and to those who can last, and
the winners and the losers will
be decided by how quickly we
can adapt to change as we get
old, and as we are watching
the world going by us  if we
are able to rediscover the
seemingly lost art of human
interaction, than we will have
good traction while writing
our new chapter.

While writing that next chapter
remember that there is no love
without forgiveness and no
forgiveness without love, so say
to yourself, I want to shine
before I die, and you just might.
                                                    Jon York    2017

Love arrives again and in its train comes
ecstasies and memories of pleasures from
so long ago but this time around we are  
bold because our love will wash away the
chains of fear that our two souls did hold.

Her shadows in the night bring me much
delight even though she is far away right
now and I wonder will she ever come back
to me and that is the quiz and did I pass
or fail her inspection and I think I know
because she says she loves me so and that
she needs me more than I will ever know.

She comes back after being gone for so long
and her love is still strong and this I knew
all along because I could feel her from far
away saying that we will be together again
some day.

I've been waiting so long for you my love
and come to me you did like a beautiful song
that I have heard so many times before and
I felt you before you arrived and to keep
your love I do strive as our journey together
has begun and it is one that we both have
longed for, for a very long time in the sun.

Her love is so strong and her reasons for taking
so long are many but the past is gone and
together we will be for this long journey into
love as it unfolds for two formerly lost souls
who both had the same goals.

I knew there would come a day when she would
look at me and say that our love has arrived.
                                                        ­                      Jon York    2017

A love I have known for
         so many years
        that it feels like home.

A love that speaks so many
         things my words
          can never say.

A love that turns night into day
        and gives me confidence
   when no one is around and
         mine is gone.

A love that came back to
      me after being gone
         for so long.

A love so rare that to let  it
     slip away from me
        I don't dare.

And so my words about her fall like raindrops so she can dance in the rain knowing that my love is a love so rare.
                                                                          Jon York  2017

May the laughter that we find in
our tomorrows wipe away the pain
that we found in our yesterdays,
and my wish for you is comfort on
difficult days, smiles when sadness
intrudes, and rainbows to follow
clouds, and laughter to kiss your
lips as my love completes your life.

Love comes to those who still hope,
as well as those who still believe,
and to those who still love even
though they have been hurt before,
so we have to let the love hidden
in our hearts find the love waiting
in our dreams.

There is only one happiness in life:
to love and to be loved and any
time not spent on love is wasted
so if you wished to be loved, love

One word frees us of all of the
weight and pain of life, and
that word is love, and realize that
the soul would have no rainbow,
had the eyes no tears.


                                               Jon York   2017

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

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

Looking out at the road rushing under my
wheels, looking back at the years gone by
like so many summer fields, in 66 I was
holding my first love  and she really took
me, the way she looked so fine and now
50 years later she is still on my mind.

You got to do what you can just to keep
your love alive and try not to confuse it
with what you do to survive but I know
that so many years later, she still
remembers me and who knows,we may
meet again some day, and I will say to her
love the life you live.and  live the life you
love and know that life is to be enjoyed,
not endured, and do things that move you,
knowing that every day is a new day, so
be yourself and the ones who really belong
in your life will come to you and stay.

Everyone I know, everywhere I go ,people
need some reason to believe,  but I do know
that love is a story that never gets old, a
taste so sweet, so full of forgiveness, and
letting go, with a kiss that enters the soul.  

Today I turned 69 and I am going to
experience as much as I can while learning
from my mistakes and find the causes
of my problems and eliminate them,
knowing that the future is so uncertain,
and the end is always near, which is why
I hold life to be dear, knowing that a little
love goes a long way, and a lot of love
goes forever, so I will understand and have
courage, as well as be strong, knowing that
love will come my way again some day,
even at my ripe old age.        
                                                   Jon York    2017

Don't just think about
the future, own it! and
if you have a dream,
make it a reality and
move forward, be inspired,
and motivate, but be sure
that you know the difference
between taking a risk and
putting yourself at risk.

Remember that power is
it's own reward, just as it
is it's own punishment and
if you pray for rain, you
must learn how to deal
with the mud.

The future belongs to the
past, and it is not about
saving the world, it's just
about doing something that
matters, and know that
everyone is capable of
greatness; they just need the
right fuel, and realize that
people aren't against you,
they are for themselves.

Don't look now, but the
future you planned for just
became the past, and you
deserve better, so don't be
just a dreamer, become a
doer, where the only direction
is forward and decide to focus
on growing, knowing that
we are just mortal beings in
an ever changing phenomenal
existence and our life would
be so empty if we had
nothing to regret.
                                Jon York    2017

Without
communication,
there is no
relationship;

Without respect,
there is no
love;

Without trust,
there is no
reason to
continue.
                     Jon York   2017

Getting old is when the biggest
lie you can tell yourself is
"I don't need to write that
number down, I'll remember it",
but don't regret growing old
because it is a privilege denied
to many, but know love is what
we are born with and fear is
something we learn and there
is no way we were born to just
pay bills and die although
sometimes it seems that way.

Be aware that you were given
this life because you are strong
enough to live it, so be happy, so
be bright, and be you, and forget
what's gone and appreciate what
still remains, while looking
forward to what's coming next,
and know that sometimes you
have to give up on people, not
because you don't care, but
because they don't, and the less
you give a ****, the happier
you will be

Know that the true mark of
maturity is when somebody
hurts you and you try to
understand the situation instead
of trying to hurt them back,
and you are able to remember
that silence is the most powerful
scream.

Feelings are just visitors, so let
come and go and know that
behind every smile, there is a
story you could never understand,
and know there are many
people who would love to have
your bad days and know that as
you breathe right now, that
another takes his last breath, so
stop complaining and learn to
love life with what you have.

Everyone I know, everywhere
I go, people just need some reason
to believe and I don't know about
anyone but me.
                                     Jon York  21017

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

No matter how
many obstacles
life puts in my
way I will fight
my way through,
grit my teeth
and just keep
going.

Life is too short
to argue and
fight  so I will
just count my
blessings and
love the friends
and family that
are always
there for me
and make the
most of each
day and that
should be all
that I need to
say
                   Jon York   2017

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

Excellence is never an
accident, it represents
the wise choice of many
alternatives; sincere effort,
intelligent execution and
a choice not to waste time,
for time is what life is made
of and in your journey
choose to have purpose
on earth and strength in
direction and strength in
messages that you give
yourself because those
are the most important
messages that you will
hear.

It may be that by choosing
labor and painful effort and
by choosing grim energy
and absolute courage that
you are able to be here and
are able to move on to better
things and it might be that
somebody chose to believe
in you, so you need to choose
not to let them down and if
you have the opportunity to
make things better and you
choose not to, then you are
wasting your time on this
planet, and if you choose to
spend your life waiting for
the storm, you will never
enjoy the sunshine, so live
in a good place, keep your
mind deep, and treat others
well, stand by your word,
make fair rules, and do the
right thing and work when
it is time, as you determine
your destiny by choices
that you make.               Jon York 2017