Never accept the things that you
cannot change, just change the
things you cannot accept and as
you begin to find out what is real
you begin to realize that nothing
is as perfect as you imagine it to be.

Somewhere in my mind just now,
as I write these words, run all of
good tines and the bad times so
fast I could hardly see them yet I
can call back any one of them and
and describe them in finest detail.

In my words I express my faith in
life, my conscience, my hopes, my
loves and my attempts to understand
what is and and what has been going
on in the world that surrounds me
and may you find inspiration and
warmth in my words.

Looking out at the road passing
under my wheels, I can't tell you all
how crazy this life feels but as a writer
I try to look at my poems from a new
perspective, turning tragedy into
tenacity and in my creativity I allow
myself to make mistakes, but the art
of it is just knowing which ones to keep.

Understand life backwards but live it
forwards knowing that once great
wrongs are done it is rarely possible to
undo them so cultivate your powers of
recuperation and restoration and even
the darkest night will end and the sun
will rise again.

Life provides the contours and we as
poets provide the shading and color
and you will find that as the years pass
you by you will become more creative
and make fewer mistakes because you
become aware that your days are
numbered and that nothing remains
the same in the game of life.

Know that habit is your constant
companion,your greatest helper, or
your heaviest burden and it will push
you onward or drag you down to
failure, but always know that it is
always at your command as half of
the tasks you do are done by habit
quickly and correctly, so be firm with
it and show it exactly how you wish
things done and after a few lessons
habit will do it automatically.
                                             Jon York   2017

It never stopped as they came at us day and night and they knew every move we made because the surrounding jungles were filled with them and as we thought we were hunting them, in reality we were the ones hunted and as they watched us set up for the night, the enemy would try to fulfill a single purpose: to **** me and my fellow Marines that made up the deadliest Marine combat unit operating in the ASHAU Valley (Valley of Death) at that time in 1969.

Arriving in Vietnam I discovered that it was very different than the nightly news reports that I watched from my Hotel room in Alaska and that the American public watched safely at night in their homes, and strange as it may seem I remember watching Marines walking through the rice paddies while the announcer was announcing the number of KIA's and I was thinking, maybe that's where I should be. Be careful what you think!!

Nothing could have prepared me ( a 20 year old "hippie"drafted and taken off the streets of the 60's ) for what I was about to face and what I was about to have to do in order to make it home on my feet and not in a body bag.

Trained to be a 20 year old killing machine by the United States Marine Corps, I did what I had to do to arrive home on my own two feet but it
would change my life forever and I didn't know it until 40 years later.

The adrenaline rush that came after each ****, and the more kills you recorded the more you got off and the more power you had and the
more you wanted to **** some more and it became an addiction and this
was suddenly gone when I got home and I reacted by covering my fear
with humor but 40 years after I knew something was terribly wrong with
me as I listened to reports of 22 Veterans a day, 24/7 committing suicide and at first I didn't understand why until one day I was thinking about different ways to die.

The physical pain had set in along with mental scars that would not go away as I thought about Vietnam every day as I began entertaining ways to die to get off this miserable train of thought and all the VA would do is to give me a PTSD disability pension and prescribe pills for the pain and during all those years it became clear that I was going nowhere and had become invisible to the world so why should I not go ahead and do the same as those 22 a day.

2017 and I am still here but I still think about Vietnam every day but I choose to write to keep my mind away from those days in the jungles shooting anyone I saw and these days I write for those 22 a day that can no longer deal with what they had to do and crossed that fine line between life and suicide that is so very close for me but for some reason I stand tall and am proud of my service to my country and feel sorry for those who will never know the depth of a Veterans pride and if I am still alive when you read this poem it is because someone drove home the fact that they actually cared whether I lived or died and that they actually appreciated what I did so many years ago in that far away jungle but that place is still on my mind every day and probably will be until the day I die and that is all I have to say on this Memorial Day.
                                                                                   Jon York  2017
                                                                                    Kilo 3/5
                                                                                 Vietnam  69- 70

Don't ever stop daydreaming and never
underestimate the power of dreams or the
influence of the human spirit. Inspiration
is everywhere because the world holds so
much beauty and I am always writing a
story in my head, so let every voice that
you hear, every hand that I touch become
story fabric.

You can always edit a bad page but you
can't edit a blank page and know that
some of the best moments you have had
in your life you can't tell anyone about
and you will discover that wasted time is
worse than wasted money.

We might worry that what we write has
been said before, sure it has, but not by
us so we must learn to write for ourselves
and not what we think other people want
to read and come to realize that beautiful
writing isn't about the words you use, it's
about the emotions we evoke, so know that
the worst enemy to your creativity is
self - doubt.

Be determined to be cheerful and happy
in whatever situation you may find
yourself in and learn that the greater
part of your misery or unhappiness is
not determined by your circumstances
but by your disposition.

Dream large but live larger and start living
the life that you only imagined knowing
that your mistakes don't define you and
know that you need to stop being afraid of
what could go wrong and start being excited
about what could go right and realize that
no matter how long you have traveled in the
wrong direction,you always have the choice
to turn around.                              Jon York    2017

Don't say. . .that you don't have
enough  time left in your life
because you have  exactly the
same number of hours per day
that were given to Bill Gates,
Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein,
and Thomas Edison.

Don't say. . .that you are alone
because if you can make friends
with yourself you will never be
alone.

Don't say. . .that you have felt
everything that you are going to
feel and from here on out you are
not going to feel anything new
but only lesser versions of what
you have already felt because you
feel that you can't survive the
reality of the past.

Don't say. . .that you can't dance
for laughter or dance for tears
and that you won't dance for
hopes and dance for screams
because we are the dancers and
we create our dreams.

Know how important it is to
dream and realize that you can't
do something if you can't imagine
it, so dream your dreams.
                                                 Jon York    2017

The storms bring us closer
together on this dark cold
night and the warmth of
our bodies against one
another warm us as we
move to the rhythm of the
wind blowing against the
windows.

The sounds of thunder
and rain are overpowered
by your screams of ecstasy
in the dark of the night.

Pity, for the storms for they
have not the power of your
love.
                            Jon York    2017

We stood face to face staring
at each others tears of joy
because it has been so long
apart wondering what we
have been doing and why
we ever parted. . .

And I said with trembling lips
why did you have to leave me
and you could not feel my pain
and staying together you had
nothing to gain. . .

My mind flashed pictures of
our past together. . .so fast
that I almost forgot. . .you
were standing there as if
someone had made you a dare

And suddenly you were gone
as fast as you came, acting as if
you didn't care, as if you were
still playing your sick little game.
                                          Jon York 2017

My face against your
breast as I remember
it was under that full
moon upon our first
meeting.

The taste of your body
in my mouth quenched
my hunger for your
love.

Your juices flowed
with a taste so sweet
and I was thinking
that if this is a dream
I hope that I never
wake up because the
power of your love
is so strong and I
have missed it for
so very long.
                      Jon York    2017

Your lips I crave. . .
and to touch your face,
to feel your ******* again
make my heart tremble
as I enter your warmth
again after so long.

I couldn't talk as our
bodies moved together
as if in slow motion.

Where have you been
hiding my love I wanted
to say to her. . . but afraid
to speak fearing whatever
I said would only offend.

I still love you, I still need
you, I still look for you, I
wanted to scream out to
her. . . if only she could
read my mind.
                                   Jon York    2017

Night does poetry for
me and when humanity
sleeps it  awakens me.

Night allows the tears
that day dries and my
words are written
seeking an aching
beauty only the moon
knows.

I like people who have
brains, humor and wit,
*****, self confidence,
( not narcissism ),
resilience, strength of
character, a willingness
to learn and be taught
( humility ), those who
have been through some
**** in their life and pushed
through it ( we all have a
story, don't we ).

If you think and talk
about what goes deep
beneath the surface,
I will notice.
                          Jon York   2017

It doesn't interest me what you
do for a living but I do want to
know what you ache for and if
you dare to dream of meeting
your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old
you are but I  do want to know
if  you will risk looking like a
fool for love, for your dream, for
the adventure of being alive.

I want to know if you can be
with joy, mine or your own and
if you can dance with wildness
and let ecstasy fill you to the tips
of your fingers and toes without
cautioning us to be careful, be
realistic, to remember the
limitations of being human.

I seek this thing though I don't
know what it might be, so I spend
my time searching for that one
missing piece and perhaps one
day you will come to me and
bring with you that quiet peace.
                                     Jon York     2017

Realize that it is never too
late for you to do ordinary
things in an extraordinary
way.

Take the time to wish upon
a star and don't ever forget
how special you are.

Know that your inspiration
comes not from memories
or experiences that you
have had in the past but
that it comes from within.

What sometimes breaks
us makes us stronger and
in the end our strength will
be unbreakable under any
circumstances.
                                        Jon York   2017

I cannot read a word of Greek
and only English do I speak,
there is in all my pedigree
no trace of Mayflower ancestry.

I've seldom burned the midnight
oil nor have I tread on foreign
soil and my search for wealth
has been in vain and all too well
I know that I am plain.

I've led a sketchy life, 'tis true
and tho' unfit to tie your shoe
and I know my dreams are made
of sturdy stuff but I love you,
isn't that enough?

The time has come, the poem
is over, thought I'd something
more to say on this bright
beautiful day.        
                                    Jon York   2017

I have no special talent,
I am only passionately
curious about life and I
know that our life is a
message to the world, so
I try to make mine
inspiring.

People may not always
tell you how they feel
about you, but they will
always show you, PAY
ATTENTION.

Learn to embrace reality,
even if it burns you and
if you do what you love,
you will never work a
day in your life.

Creativity is intelligence
having fun and the creative
adult is the child who
survived, so  go confidently
in the direction of your
dreams and live the life
you've imagined and
remember that nothing is
worth it if you aren't happy.

Never let you fear decide
your future and grow
through what you go
through and you will find
that your hardest times
often lead to the greatest
moments of your life and
if you keep the faith, it
will all be worth it in the
end.
                              Jon York    2017

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

As I get older I discover that there
is a certain beauty to getting old
and as I get older I discover that
it opens me up to not being afraid
of anything in this beautiful
adventure of life.

I choose to celebrate life in my
later years and I take nothing
for granted anymore because
I am still in a beautiful adventure
and it can be especially beautiful
when you are able to celebrate it
with the person that you love
and want to be with so you can
celebrate the adventure together.

Life is full of beautiful moments
and I choose to let them in
knowing that these are times
that I will want to cherish and
they deserve the perfect
memories.

We are not going to live forever
but we can create something that
will through love and those
perfect moments.
                                              Jon York   2017

Dreams
I'm a thousand miles from you tonight
this world doesn't seem to be just right
I gaze into a far off space and dream
that I am in your embrace then I wake
up and it's dawn and my dreams have
faded -- you are gone.

The tender words that you once
said I draw about me like a warm
cloak for protection against the
biting words of your scorn.

            Compensation
Weeks of anxious waiting, days of
loneliness, banished in an instant by
one fond caress.
Hours of desperation; agony, despair
-- vanished and forgotten when you
                                           say you care.
Endless nights of longing, slowly
moving time...swept into oblivion
when your lips touch mine.

Other hearts may love you, other
lips pressed to thine, but no heart
will ever love you like this broken
               heart of mine.


       Monday --Thursday
    all this week -- I have
loved you -- cheek to cheek
     Friday -- Saturday, today
somehow love has slipped away
     Last week -- this week
    three weeks hence, your
      rating has dropped
         to thirty cents.

The years have been long and
the words have been few and
    though I agreed to part,
          I still love you --
I have tried to forget but that
is hard to do when all things
remind me - I still love you.

The gold of the sun recalls the gold
of your hair, that halo almost divine,
and the blue of the skies brings back
the blue of your eyes,
I long for you, sweetheart of mine,
Don't you often regret that I'm not
there to say - I still love you.

                 Prayer
                O  God
           I don not ask
         for a better day
             I only ask
             that I may
                live it
        in a better way.
                                         Jon York    2017

Tobacco
  Bad men like their women to be
like cigarettes, just so many all
slim and trim waiting on a row
to be set afire and when the flame
has died, discarded.
  Better men like their women to
be like cigars and these are more
exclusive, look better and last
longer and if the brand is good
they aren't given away.
  Wise men like their women to
be like pipes that are not loaned
and men care for them the older
they grow; and the flame never
dies and when too old they knock
them lovingly and care for them
always.

    Once I knew ---
wonderful nights in the month
                                               of June
a breeze softly blowing a tender
                                                 moon
the perfume of roses sweet in the
                                                     air
the stillness of beauty...so perfect
                                             ...so rare
long drives with you beneath
                                        starlit skies
drinking eagerly...deeply of the
                               love in your eyes
whispering tender words. .vowing
                                   you were mine
   Now I find ---
the loneliness of nights filled with
                                     dreams of you
wondering,  always wondering if
                                 you miss me too
wondering if something about the
                                moon each night
brings memories poignant...a tear
                                          drop bright.


How easily you search my eyes to
see what you can find and I wonder
...would you be so calm if you
could read my mind.


Would we be parted now. . .
had things not been so ?
or did you really love me ?
I'll never know.


There are a dozen ways of making
oneself forget but twelve of them
won't work.
                                                         Jon York   2017

Would You ?
If in all the world there were but two
and if all this were good and true
   would you ?
and if you dreamed of PJ's blue and
big strong arms encircling you and
if you woke and found it true
    would you ?
and if you were good and bright
and I stayed with you all night
and I turned out the light
   would you ?
and if we lay there face to face
with nothing between us but silk
and lace and if you knew everything
was safe,
    would you ?
would you kiss me goodnight ?


This wanting, getting, finding out
we don't want it all --
yet if there be sweet birds in spring
there will be leaves that fall.


Here's to the love that lies in
your eyes
         and lies
               and lies
                     and lies.


                Life
It is a pair of dice plugged with lead
a crooked game where death is the
dealers friend and when we cash our
chips in for the red life hands us all
a lemon in the end.

Sooner or later -- you'll forget the
things you are saying --- and yet
It's sweet for the stars to kiss the sea
but not half as sweet as you kissing me
   It doesn't mean a thing I know but
I  love to hear your lines and so ---
the moonlight has a thousand charms
and sooner or later you'll forget but
never mind this bye and by cause
sooner or later, so will I.

Life is like a cigarette -- easily started
--- quickly done, tossed away without
regret as you light up another one.

Two volume novel ---
the suns gone dim,
the moons gone black
for I loved her and
she didn't love back.
                                         Jon York   2017

It's a mile to anywhere since
you have gone away a funny
little crooked way I cannot
walk today.

I am afraid that I might find a
rumpled heart you tossed into
the weeds as you went by, a
broken dream you lost.

It may be you walk slowly
and wait for me to go that
tangled path to find you if
only I could know.

Lets be gay while we may
and seize love with laughter
and I'll be true as long as you
but not one moment after.

Sometimes a little's a lot and
sometimes a lots a little
depending of course on who's
who, how come, and what's
what for a little of you is a lot
you see but a lot too little to
satisfy me.

Yours was a strange love you
brought to me, a brief bright
thread of gold for life's Tapestry
and it is strange that one gold
thread could mean so much
yet it made my soul's garment
soft to touch.
                                                  Jon York   2017

The only things we do
    two by two
we pay for
   one by one.

Someone once said this world is a stage
and each must play his part and
fate held me as a lover and you as
my sweetheart and Act I was where
we met and I loved you at first glance
and I thanked the author for this part
and for giving me this chance.
You said your lines so cleverly as you
never missed a cue and I was the
happiest man on earth and then came
Act II and you seemed to change, acting
strange just why I never knew until
you went away and left me alone and
blue.
if you lied when you said you loved
me I had no cause to doubt you but I'd
rather go on hearing your lies than to
go on living without you.

I swore the day I met you that I would
win your heart and I vowed that day
I'd get you to yield to Cupids dart and
I've rued that fascination and I wish I
could forget you but I have one
consolation - I swore the day I met you.
                                                                        Jon York   2017

If I had known how many weeks
      would come and go
'Ere I again should see you
      would I have acted so.

Would I have read the future
and known what was to be---
I wouldn't have hurt you darling
had all the world been given to me.

For I dream of you at night, dear----
and think of you all day---
I was cross when I was with you
because--- that was my way.

We always treat our dear ones
  the ones we love the best
just a trifle colder
than we ever treat the rest.

Sort o' lonesome, sort O blue
sort o' pinin  just for you
sort o' wishing for a way
I could be with you today
sort o' wondering if you know
just how much I'm missing you
thought I'd tell you just what is what
I'm missing you an awful lot.

The clouds were forming pictures
That only I could see
and in my album
was one of you and me
you had bent to kiss me
and you were about to say
that you would always, always
----- and then the wind blew
them away.

             Too Late
If I could go back o'er my days
and trace my steps through all the ways
I think the first thing I would do
would be to find my way to you
and seek to take from out your heart
the pain for which the greatest part
I was to blame.
                                                               Jon York 2017


'

Love is like drinking champagne in a Paris café,
you don't order it but you get it anyway so then
you sip it and it is good and yes, you like it.

So you taste it and it sparkles and from the outside
it looks so good, so you drink some more and you
begin to feel it and feeling dizzy you drink some
more.

Soon all is a mad swirl and everything looks so
different and you are happy-- you laugh and
then you get a little sick and you feel a pain and
you cry and your head aches.

You are sorry that you drank the stuff and you
swear that you will never touch it again but
after awhile you become used to it and hardened
to it.

You find that you like it and drink and drink
until finally you can go through with it
without a mar and you are called a toper.
                                                                          Jon York    2017

mar: damage, wreck, deface, deform, blight, blot, spoil, scar, stain,
toper: drink alcohol to excess, habitually

Writing a poem is like discovering your soul because
sometimes the hardest thing in life to face is yourself
but the words that come out of my head reflect my past
and some of the times that I wish would have lasted
just  little bit longer.                                                          ­        

Some of my loves were like a fire that sparked quickly
and then  burned with intense heat but some burned
out quickly and my soul seemed lost in the flame
leaving me never the same.

The soul tries to bring harmony and order out of chaos
and it attempts to introduce meaning and affect where
there was none and it  gives highs and lows to a landscape
that was previously flat.

The words I write define my soul and who I am and what
roadblocks I have had and finding the strength and courage to
overcome and the ability to forge new roads through the
disappointments that I have had to face.

And as I look at the words that come to paper I realize
that I am not my pain and I am not my past but I have
discovered my soul and these words have filled a great
big hole knowing that love comes to those even though
they have been disappointed and to those who still
believe even though they have been betrayed and to
those who can still love.

Only a powerful soul can offer love and be humble and
my words have helped me to discover this and let me
realize that any time not spent on love is wasted.
                                                         ­                             Jon York   2017

There are many feathers in my headdress
and there are so many things in my medicine
bundle and there is great love in my heart and
with these things I will traverse the many
miles I have yet to travel and I have learned
by experience and age that I alone am
responsible for the quality of my life and
so it goes.

We all have our demons and we are all works
in progress just trying to grow into our better
selves and during our growth we find that
nostalgia is a ***** liar that insists that things
are better than they seemed but you only fail
if you stop trying and so it goes.

As the years flash by, on the outside of us
everything changes, but what really matters
is on the inside and that mostly remains the
same, even after years of playing the other
persons games and you can't help but
wonder if you had done things differently
would the outcome still be the same and
so it goes.

We all fall in love, though we have so many
secrets and there are some we never tell
and we disregard the danger and know that
everyone goes south now and then so don't
be afraid to try again knowing that it takes
strength to love again and so it goes.

It also takes courage to be loved and it takes
strength to survive but know that it
takes courage to live, just as it takes strength
to feel a friends pain but it takes courage to
feel your own pain and so it goes.

Along the way we learn that those people
that are quick to walk away are the ones
that never intended to stay and so it goes.

So few win and so many lose, so you
wash what is *****, water what is dry, heal
what is wounded, sooth what is hurt, and
dry the tears that are shed, warm what is
cold, guide what goes off the road, and
love those who are least lovable because
they need it the most and so it goes.
                                                           ­       Jon York   2015

I ought not to love you so,

I ought to be ashamed,

I ought to give you up,

Tell you my love has waned,
              --- But ---
I do, --
          I don't,
                     I can't,
                              I won't

 Love is an urchin
    a poor gutter rat
      starved and anemic
        But happy at that
                                                    Jon York 2017

The sun is shining, the clouds are breaking
and I can be strong, yes I can and know that
you gotta do this for you and know that this
is for you and isn't about anybody else. so
live for you and never lose sight of that.

Be crazy enough to know you can do
everything in life and sometimes you have
to be your own hero.

Know that a good day is a good day. A bad
day is a good story and at the end of the day
it is all good and perhaps we should love
ourselves so fiercely that when others se us
they will know exactly how it should be done.

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable
and if you have to ask yourself , "will it be easy?"
NOPE, "worth it?" ABSOLUTELY, and you will
make mistakes but just don't let the mistakes
make you.

Stay positive, work hard, and make it happen
and work on yourself for yourself and learn
to trust the journey, even if you don't
understand it, just be happy and smile, it
drives everybody crazy.                                Jon York   2017

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous
changes so don't resist them for that only
creates sorrow, so let reality be reality
and realize that a life spent making
mistakes is not only more honorable but
more useful  than a life doing nothing.

Every day is a new opportunity and you
can build on yesterday's success or put its
failures behind and start over again
knowing that some people of mediocre
ability sometimes achieve outstanding
success because they don't know when
to quit

Never quit. it is the easiest cop - out in
the world so set a goal and don't quit
until you attain it but be aware that
pleasure is a shadow, wealth is vanity,
and power a pageant; but knowledge
is ecstatic in enjoyment, perennial in
frame, unlimited in space and
indefinite in duration.

Learn to admire but not envy, to
follow but not imitate, please but not
flatter, lead but not manipulate.
                                                     ­       Jon York     2017

I may be slightly broken, a little
bruised and even permanently
scarred but I still wake up every
day and look around me at all
of life's beauty and I still have a
will to fight and to keep going on
with the tools I have been given
in this almost surreal life that I
am living and I am not going
to run after people to prove that
I matter.

I have learned that if nobody
else celebrates me that I will
celebrate myself and I have
made up my mind that no matter
what comes my way no matter
how difficult and no matter how
unfair that I will do more than
simply survive,  I will thrive
in spite of it.

Sometimes you just have to take
a day to shut the world out so
you can open up to yourself and
deal with your thoughts and you
don't need to feel guilty or apologize
or try to justify needing space
because you just do what you
need to do to take care of yourself
no explanation needed.
                                               Jon York     2016

My search is over and I did not even
need a four leaf clover because love
has found me and my love found her
and to say it in a different way and
that is a dream has found me as I sat
aching, silent, and wondering why
since I have been patient and faithful
knowing that I would find her along
with eternal peace and my wandering
would final cease.

She was a heart ready and willing but
having been unfortunately denied but
still loving and committing as she
waited for me to show up at her front
door and as we met today I opened
up in her direction just like a flower
opens to the sun.

As our lips met I could feel her heart
pounding against my chest and knew
she was ready for love again as I was
ready to love again as well.

In just one day she lifted the sadness
from my weary heart and we both talked
of making a new start and how we
would never be apart and how both of
us had been lost but now were found
and how the chemistry did abound
with this beautiful lady that I connected
with..                                        Jon York   2016

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

Let your love be warm and generous
because whosoever loves much performs
much and can accomplish much and know
what is done in love is done well and to
me there is nothing more truly artistic
than to love people.

I have nature and art and poetry, and if
that is not enough, what is enough and
a great fire burns within me, but no one
stops to warm themselves at it and passers
by only see a wisp of smoke but to judge
another is to become blind and delay
your own passage.

Normality is a paved road: it is comfortable
to walk, but no flowers grow on it and I try
more and more to be myself, caring relatively
little whether people approve or disapprove.

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty
everywhere and to suffer without complaint
is the only lesson we have to learn in this life
and it is such a pity that as one gradually gains
experience, one loses one's youth.

Do not try relentlessly to understand because
time itself will decide and do not be sad, your
joy will come when it is time, and remember
to not love easily but well.
                                                                   Jon York   2016

Truth Is. . .
                   What I like most about myself is that I am so
                            understanding when I do something wrong. . .
                   You had better appreciate me now and avoid the rush. . .
                   We all have one thing in common- a thing called life. . .
                    Just exactly what life is has not yet been satisfactorily
                         explained to me. . .
                    I try to take life as it comes and just hope it keeps coming. . .
                    Every time I try to take out a new lease on life, the landlord
                         raises the rent. . .
                    Win or lose. it's all right. . .
                    The world is a very strange community, but it is the only
                           one we all belong to. . .
                     Quiet people have the loudest minds. . .

Truth Is. . .
                   There has been so much concern about what might happen
                            that what is actually happening has passed almost
                            unnoticed. . .  
                    Some of the worst things I have done have probably been
                            forgotten by everybody except me. . .
                    Why is it that I so often desire the best and why do I seldom
                           get it.. .
                    I could do great things if I weren't so busy doing little things
                    I am still waiting for some public reaction to my arrival on
                           earth. . .
                    Of course I know what happiness is because I've seen
                            many pictures of it. . .
                     Intelligence is not of much use unless you are intelligent
                             enough to use it. . .

Truth Is. . .
                      The reason why most people are careful is that those who
                             weren't are no longer living. . .
                       Having lived through some bad times, I am living proof
                              that some bad times can be lived through. . .
                       Just when I nearly had the answer, I forgot the question. .
                       Don't believe everything you hear about me regardless of
                              how true it may be. . .
                       It frightens me when people suddenly start to behave
                              sensibly. . .
                       Some of my secrets have been hidden so well, I have
                               forgotten what they are. . .  
                        I wonder why it is that many of the most important
                                things are also the most boring things. . .
                         If it makes you happy, do it. If it doesn't, then don't. . .

Sometimes. . .
              . . . when you release expectations you are free to enjoy things
                     for what they are instead of what you think they should be.

               . . .when you focus on problems that you have you have more
                    problems but if you focus on possibilities you have more
                    opportunities.    

               . . .when you want to disappear what you really want is to be
                    found.

              . . . it is okay if the only if the only thing did today was breathe.

              . . . if you could read my mind you would be in tears.

Sometimes.. .
              . . .every ones true colors show eventually.

              . . .the worst part about being strong is that no one asks if you're
                   okay.

              . . .people do not listen with the intent to understand but they
                   only listen with the intent to reply.

              . . .if life removes someone you never dreamed of losing it will
                   replace them with someone you never dreamed of having.

              . . .in life we forget the things we should remember and
                   remember the things we should forget.

Sometimes. . .
              . . .to heal a wound we have to stop touching it.

               . . .problems in life are there because of two reasons and they
                    are because we act without thinking or we keep thinking
                     without acting.

               . . .the beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are
                    but how happy others can be because of you.      

               . . .what is meant to be will always find a way.

               . . .you just have to be patient because the best things happen
                    unexpectedly.

                . . .if you can not accept it and can not change it, just leave it.

               . . .you can......end of story.
                                                          ­                                     Jon York    2016

                



               . . .

You are enrolled in a school called life and you will have
daily opportunity to learn lessons and all of the lessons you
learn you will not like because there are no mistakes only
lessons because growth is a process of trial and error and
your lessons will be repeated until they are learned and
how quickly you will find that the lessons never end
because as long as you are alive there are lessons to be
learned.

If you. . .live with criticism you will condemn and if you live
with hostility you will learn to fight and if you live with fear
you will be apprehensive and if you live with pity you will
constantly feel sorry for yourself.

If you. . .live with lies the truth will always be hard to find
and if you live with ridicule you will be shy and if you live
with jealously you will learn what envy is and if you live with
praise you will always appreciate and if you live with love
you will find acceptance and sharing.

If you. . .live with sharing you will learn to be generous and if
you live with honesty and fairness you will learn what the
truth really is and who is telling the truth and if you are friendly
you will learn that the world is a nice place to live and if you
possess serenity you will have some peace of mind.

If you. . .have to wonder why then your life will always be a
question and if you live with shame you will always feel guilty
but if you live with tolerance you will be patient and if you
get encouragement you will learn to be confident.
                                                                ­      Are you living?
                                                         ­                         Jon York   2017

Living in seclusion and seemingly trapped
in the worlds illusions of what is right and
what is wrong as I continue searching for
those things I just can't seem to find because
I am trapped inside.

All seems a grand illusion and there is just
no escape from this confusion but I am
happy being alone because my mind is free
to roam.

I get out of bed with a sudden urge to write
and I look through subjects of which to
write about and I find that some hold anger,
some are filled with heartbreak and reveal
the fear that people hold of places, and of
events of their past, but the subject of love
is really the only one that reveals to me
the sun.

We don't stop loving because we grow old
but we will grow old if we stop loving and
life is beauty so let us admire it and life is
sometimes a dream so let us realize it and
let us dare it.

Let love be your guiding light and know
that all of the hurt and pain will eventually
fade away and know that the strong will
always prevail in the end so let time be
your friend.
                                                             Jon York   2016

As you grow you will learn that
even that one person that wasn't
supposed to ever let you down
probably will and you will have
your heart broken probably more
than once and you will find that
it is harder every time.

You will break a few hearts too
so remember how it felt when
yours was broken and you will
fight with your best friend and
you will blame a new love for
things that an old one did and
you will cry because time is just
passing way too fast.
  
You will eventually lose someone
that you love so take too many
pictures and laugh too much and
love like you have never been hurt
because every sixty seconds that
you spend upset is a minute of
happiness that you will never get
back and don't be afraid that your
life will end but be afraid that
you will never let it begin.
                                                  Jon York   2016

Think about what you think and be grateful
for what you are and for what you have and
realize life while you live it and no matter
what you are doing be your own master and
don't let outside forces control you.

One choice can transform you as you try to
answer every question that can be answered
which allows you to live before you die and
pay attention to every second which enables
you to remember what it is like to be human.

One choice can destroy you as you challenge
your illogical thought processes while you are
here and value every moment knowing that it
is not what you say but how you say it and if
it is right.

One choice can define you as correct answers
must be affirmed so you can live the life that
you chose even if you think that you might lose.

One choice can take you there but be sure it is
where you want to go and if it isn't where you
want to go be able to find your way back.
                                                           ­           Jon York       2016

Time flies whether you're
having fun or not and
when we are young we
admire clever people but
when we get old we admire
kind people and sadly we
find that there is always a
specific moment when we
realize that our youth is
gone.

The first forty years of life
give us the text and the next
thirty supply the commentary
and one of the many things
no one tells us about aging
is that it is such a nice
change from being young
because in youth we learn
and in age we understand
but the really sad part about
getting old is that we stay
young on the inside but no
one can tell.

Live a good and honorable
life and then when you get
older and think back you'll
get to enjoy it a second time
around and by the time you
hit sixty you'll have learned
your hardest lessons because
by then you have found out
that only a few things are
really important and you
have learned to take life
seriously but not yourself
and by then you know that
beautiful young people are
acts of nature and beautiful
old people are works of art.
                                                      on York   2016

I returned from
Vietnam in 1970 and
the war was over in
1975 and over 58,000
died in that war and
twice as many Americans
committed suicide
after it was over.

As I write this in late
2016, 22 Veterans a
day still commit suicide
as the dying still persists.  

Doesn't anyone wonder
why so many Veterans
have to still die after all
of these years and why
doesn't anybody question
this useless dying of 22
Veterans every day
or does anyone care that
this dying still persists.
     Jon York    2016 - USMC, Vietnam 69 - 70

Here today and gone tomorrow
is this time called life as it just
flies by at the speed of sound
with your feet barely hitting
the ground and your life may
seem full of sorrow and you're
drowning in bad news and
you always seem to lose but
maybe that is because that is
what you choose and just
don't know it.

Then someone comes out of
nowhere and is that very
special person who really
does care and you begin to
realize that love is everywhere
and together you take that
dare and you live one day
at a time and your life begins
to rhyme and things start to
fall into place.

The days begin to slow
down and you don't wear
that frown anymore because
you have learned to live one
day at a time and not go
too fast because you want
everything to last knowing
that it all goes by way too
fast and that any moment
could be your last.
                                                        Jon York      2016

Don't expect
people to
change and
know that
common sense
is a flower that
doesn't grow
in everyone's
garden and
know that a
persons actions
will tell you
everything
you need to
know.

Some people
are like clouds;
when they
disappear, it's
a beautiful day
and my only
regret is that I
didn't tell
enough people
to *******.
        Jon York     2016

You have to wonder how
much of what weighs you
down is not yours to carry,
so don't talk, just act, don't
say, just show and don't
promise, just prove and
know that if you were a
bird you would know who
to **** on.

Unless it's a mad passionate,
extraordinary love, it's a
waste of your time because
there are too many mediocre
things in life and love
shouldn't be one of them so  
realize that love is like a
****, if you have to force it,
it's probably ****.

Believe in yourself and
when you say " yes " to
others, make sure you are
not saying "no" to yourself
and don't strop until you're
proud even if you have
to be loud.
                                                   Jon York      2016

I am waiting for. . ..
a bright new tomorrow,
no more sorrow,
inspiration,
reassurance,
my coffee to be ready,
my turn,
some patience,
someone who likes to kiss,
something good to say,
the stakes to be lower,
more time to do what I haven't done,
a significant relationship to come along,
the right person to right my wrongs,
my youth to return,
the physical pain from age to go away,
the next time around,
the day I will write the perfect poem,
recognition of my poems besides just a lot of reads,
my ship to come in,
perfection, if it really exists,
to win the lottery,
some honest compassion,
the thanks I never got for wasting my youth and going to war,
peace on this planet
people to realize what they are doing to this planet,
a perfect ending,
how long do I have to wait?
                                                       Jon York      2016

When we are young we are
fearless but when we are old it
is a challenge just to stay alive.

Age is not a particularly
interesting subject because
anyone can get old, all you
have to do is live long enough.

Life is an amazing journey and
you alone are responsible for
the quality of it so guard well
that treasure kindness and know
how to give it without hesitation,
how to use it without regret, how
to acquire it without meanness.

Some days are just bad days,
that's all, so know that you have
to experience sadness to know
happiness.

I hope everyone reading my words
is having a really good day, and if
you aren't, just know that in every
new minute that passes you have
the opportunity to change that
and if you have enemies, it means
you have stood up for something
sometime in your life and the
gift is yours.
                                  Jon York     2016

Love works if you work at it, but only
time itself will decide, so stand on your
head and get a different view of things
and see that something beautiful is
forever a joy.

My world has been full of love, laughter,
and full of tears, of well remembered
places and faces, of fleeting moments
of the hearts, unbridled joy of shared
silences, and lonely longings where the
deepest feelings are born, and live on
in memory.

I have known minutes of pleasure that
were worth millenniums of pain, but I
have always come away with more than
I gave, even when I was sure I' d given
a lot, but I do not try relentlessly  to
understand, knowing joy will come
when it is time and there is no good
or bad, malice or virtue, only time and
circumstance,

I have loved never asking if I should,
I have trusted not caring if I could or
couldn't and every time I closed the
door on reality, it came in through the
window, but what I do, I do with love
because there isn't any other way.
                                                  Jon York     2016

Truth is. . . .
I am insane but my intentions are gold and my heart is pure...
you never get too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream....
my path requires validation from nobody....
I just want to drink coffee, save animals and sleep.
sometimes it takes a good fall to know where you really stand....
you should not rip yourself into pieces to keep others whole....

Truth is. . . .
everyone is going to hurt you so you just have to find the one who's
                                                                                                 worth the pain....
doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will....
worry is a misuse of  your imagination...
you do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do....

Truth is
I have learned to see beauty and goodness everywhere and know and
                                                        know that the real joy of life is to love....
the bad news is you cannot make people like, love, understand,  
        validate, accept or be nice to you and you cannot control them
                                                   either, the good news is it doesn't matter....
it takes sadness to know what happiness is, noise to appreciate silence,
                                                                             absence to value presence....
if you continuously compete with others you become bitter but if you
                        continuously compete with yourself, you become better....

Truth is. . .
you have the power to change your life at any given moment and never
                                                                                                        forget that....
the future can be better than the present and you have the power to
                                                                                                         make it so....
                                                                            Jon York    2016

life doesn't come with instructions....
we should do what is right, not what is easiest....

if you fully trust someone without any doubt, you will get one of two
                                                 results: a friend for life or a lesson for life....
if the only thing making us unhappy is our own thoughts, we change
                                                          ­                                                      them....
pa­tience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude
                                                        ­                                         while waiting....
it is never too late to get your **** together..

AS WE GROW OKDER we learn that. . .
happiness is found when we stop comparing our life to others....
sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places....
if we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.....

others should make no mistake between my personality and my attitude -
  my personality being who I am, my attitude depending on who they
                                                            ­                                                        are....
t­he body heals with time and the mind heals with laughter and the
                                                                ­                       spirit heals with joy....

AS WE GROW OLDER we learn that. . .
to be old and wise, we must first be young and stupid...
just because we you're breathing doesn't mean you're alive....

inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell
                                                            ­                                             happened....
youth is a gift of nature and age is a work of art....
rudeness is a weak persons imitation of strength....
time shows us what really matters....

happiness is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but
                                                                ­            doesn't get you anywhere....
the meaning of life is to find our gift and the purpose of life is to
                                                              ­                                      give it away....
                                                        ­                                   Jon York          2016

Be. . .prepared for the journey of life and where
it may take you.

Be. . .prepared for anything that may come your way
knowing that some will lose and some will win,
                                       but we will never be here again.

Be. . .creative and dynamic in your thinking and
doing and happy, because life is too short to
be anything else.

Be. . .strong when you are weak,
brave when you are scared, because you will
need it if you expect to survive.

Be. . .humble when you are victorious and happy
because life is over before you know it.

Be. . .thankful to be alive knowing that every minute
you have will never come again.

Be. . .the first to apologize, the first to be bravest
and the first to forgive and be the happiest.

Be. . .patient, everything is coming together.

Will it be easy?
               Nope.
Worth it?
              Absolutely.

Trust the process and do the best you can until
you know better and when you know better,
do better.                                                          ­   Jon York     2016

The tragedy of life is not death, but
what we let die inside of us while we
are here and know that people who
don't understand your silence will
never understand your words and
the only time you should look back
is to see how far you have come.

Sometimes it is okay if the only
thing you did today was breathe
and sometimes you want to just
disappear but in reality you just
want to be found because the
worst part about being strong is
that no one ever asks if you're okay.

Often in life we forget the things
we should remember and remember
the things we should forget and
sometimes we have problems in
our lives because of two reasons;
we act without thinking or we keep
thinking without acting and the
beauty of life does not depend on
how happy we are, but how happy
others can be because of you.

You can....end of story, so remember
to keep the ones who heard you when
you never said a word and what is
meant to be will always find a way
so be patient, the best things
happen unexpectedly.                                      
             ­                                               Jon York       2016

A blank page is staring at me, cursing me and
laughing at me, who is always nostalgic and in
need of solitude I am because I let life pass me
by as I rolled down this highway of life.

I've been trying to catch it but have run out of
time as my life has been a roller coaster rhyme
going from bright as a star to deep dark and
sublime but have committed no crime.

Out of time with no one else is in my rhyme
but that is not really a crime but there was a
day when being alone this far down the line
was something I could never say but it just
turned out that way.

I've had my day in the sun, my fifth teen
minutes of fame and I've played their game
and as a result I will never be the same and
it appears that all I did was not run from
anybody else but only myself and I still run
from what I had to do in a far away land
with a gun in my hand and still it never lets
me sleep because I have to face Charlie
every night and day because the memories
will just not go away.

As the end of my life nears I don't to shed
any more tears because I've had so many
good years and so many loves and have
written so many words about those times
and those words will remain long after I
am gone so for now all I can do now is to
remain strong until it is time to be gone
knowing that if only time were a friend
of mine I wouldn't feel the need to write
this rhyme.                                           Jon York    2016