So many loves that
never had a chance
too afraid to take that dance
and so many dreams lost
to circumstance that are gone
and won't be back.

Enough loneliness
and enough pain and emptiness
so it is time to
start again.

Sometimes I feel
like a soldier without a war
or maybe a sculptor
without a stone
with nights as speechless
as the days always looking
for a new way
because there is no one
to be lonely with.

How can I speak
of yesterday when
it was so bad that I don't
know what to say
and there is a courage
that has deserted me
so I cannot tell you all
what I feel except in poems
as I come to realize
that it is time to
start again.      Jon York         2012

Surrounded by people
yet I am so alone left in a hole,
deep, dark and cold,
bought and sold but change
is constant be it for
better or worse.

Back and forth I go
while life just seems so slow
during these times
but I understand that the
highs and lows that come and go
are just part of the story
and that is just the
way it is.

Pretend and the lies
will never go away and soon
a friend you won't have
so just be real and life
will seem a steal.

Love deeply
and what you reap will fit
very neatly and it
is something that you
can always keep.

I am who I am
and what you see
is what you get
as long as you don't forget
to tell the truth.

I do what I do
and everything is different
but nothing changes
and I realize that it is
not happiness that makes
us grateful but gratefulness
that makes us happy.                  Jon York                            2012

For so long
it seems I have yearned
to see some light
and a way out of this
self-imposed darkness and suddenly
I saw the light at the end
of this tunnel that I have been in
and realized that I
don't need it anymore.

I don't need her lies
and I don't need her backward
WALMART country ways
and for sure I don't need
her "my way or the highway"
controlling days.

We all have stories
WE WILL NEVER TELL
but she chose to lie
and everybody knows why
and she gets by
on what she can sell
to those around her
as she lives in her
own private Hell.

I am tired
of writing poems
about "happy ever afters,"
"true love," and "the one" because
it has all been said and done
in a world of
disappointments, cheaters,
and "happy never afters."

If you have
never been there
do not think that you
know the way
but maybe you will see
someday and learn what games
you must play.

I was much
too strong for her
and I gave her so much more
than she deserved
and it is finally nice to know
even after being knocked so low
that I don't need it anymore
and I am so glad
that she walked out
that door.           Jon York                   2012

Good to know
that you were always
ready to go because you had
done it so many times before
with so many other men
and even bragged about it
and now you say that
they are just friends.

Friends that don't
talk to you and don't make
contact with you
and I am supposed
to believe that
yah right so it is no wonder
you made flight.

Good to know that
you never really cared
and you were just  
using me until you were
good to go.

Good to know
that you had your sights
set on someone else
and you thought that I didn't
know that you had been
getting ready to go
for some time.

Good to know
that our love affair
was only good because
from the very beginning
you were in it for
something else.

Good to know
that it all means nothing now
and you just
sort of wasted my
precious time but it was
still it a crime.

And what is especially
good to know
is that you were nothing
but a fake who has
everyone believing that
she is so great.                                 Jon  York               2012

Such a lady
althought at first meeting
one could think that
she was a bit
shady.

She uses her power well
constantly looking
for something
to sell.

She possess's an aura
and demeanor of a
movie starlet.

Staying so busy
but still able to find
passing minutes
and spend them
with me and then
like a bird she
flies free.

A free bird in flight
that can't be caged
but maybe someday
she will turn
the page.                   Jon   York           2012

Regret nothing
and be grateful for what you are
and what you have
whether it is good or bad
and know that wealth
is not possession but enjoyment
so be grateful for the people
throughout your life that made you happy
especially the ones who made
your soul blossom
as we can learn much from those
who have gone before us.

Don't be afraid to step off
of the accepted path
and head off in your own direction
if your heart tells you
that it is the right way to go
and always believe that
you will succeed at whatever you do
and wherever you go
because you never know
how strong you are
until being strong is the only choice
that you have.

Don't worry about whether
your beautiful or you are ugly
because by the time that we are eighty
we will all look the same
even after playing our little game
so just hang in there
and everything will be all right
and try to get some sleep
at night.

As we go through life
we learn that they can't teach you
everything that you need to know in School
like teaching you how love somebody
with all that you have
nor can they teach you
how to be famous
and they can't teach you
how to be rich or how to be poor
and most of the time
they will just show you the door
becasuse they will never
teach you how to walk away
from someone
that you loved and who
you thought was
that someone who was sent to you
from above.

They don't teach you
what to say to someone who is dying
or teach you how to stop crying
as you watch them leave
or how to deal with
someone's continuous
lying .

I've done it all starting
with answering the call
for my Country in a meaningless war
that left me with only
trying to find a door
that would lead me out
of my pain and I've been rich
and I've been poor and
all of the dead space in between
and so much I have seen
that I will never forget
and I am still trying to find that door
to my happiness.

Don't judge me if you don't
know a thing about my wants and needs
or I will drop you to your knees
because I have been knocked down
so many times and left for dead
by those who are not very well read
but I keep getting back up
because that is me
and what I do better than anything
so it would seem.

On the down side of this wild ride
of the boomer generation
I try to finish out this ride
as I watch so many dropping
by the wayside but so many are still  
waiting to just turn the page
with no rage.

Never regret anything
that made you smile even if
it only lasted for a very short while
and try to remember that
your happiness is all up
to you.

While humanity sleeps in the night
all I do is write
and my words and my tears
have flooded Valley's without
a single solitary sound
but for me sometimes the Sun shines
but the clouds always seem to return
so I guess I'll just never learn
but I do know that when knowledge
speaks wisdom listens.                                      Jon York              2012

I keep writing about you  
and I wish that
you would just go away
and leave me alone
and just get out of my head
beause it has been seven months
since you chose to walk away
but thoughts of you
are still there
every day.

Maybe the reason
I can't get rid of you
is because of all
of your lies
and my wonder why's
and the fact
that you act as if
I don't even exist
anymore and you
act like we never
even happened.

You didn't really think
I would stop existing when
you walked out of my life
after spending two years
acting like my wife.

When you looked at me
you only saw
what you chose to see
never ever really
trying to see
the real me
and you only saw
that person that
I used to be.

But after meeting you
I became so much more
but that still
didn't stop you from
walking out
that door.  

Happy hunting.                                    Jon York              2012

I find your presence
a present
to the world and a gift to me
because you are unique
and one of a kind
because your life is
what you want it to be so
I take the days just
one at a time
as I sit here trying to write
you a rhyme.

I count my blessings
and you count yours
as you have been so blessed
because you make
it through whatever
comes along
and what is within you
is so strong.

You don't put limits
on yourself
and have so many dreams
to be yet realized
and you live a life of serenity
and not a life of regrets
so remember
that a little love goes
a long way and a lot of love
can go forever.

Remember that friendship
is a wise investment
and life's treasures
are people together and realize
that it is never too late
for us to do
ordinary things in an
extrordinary way.

Take the time
to wish upon a star
and don't ever forget
even for a day
how special you are
and know that our inspiration
comes not from
memories or experiences
that we have had in the past
but 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                                  2012

I am so sick of
writing about her
but does my heart hold
hurt and shame from
playing her game?

Are my eyes filled
with tears from what
they have seen
and from so many lies
that they have heard?

I should have never
kissed those lips
or opened my mouth saying
" you are the one,"
and "we will never
come undone."

I should have never
wasted my breath
because together any longer
could have meant
someone's death.

But I can't seem
to get her off my mind
even though the two years
with her were so miserable
and unkind filled
with lies upon lies but in
the final moments I realized
that she was only a detour
and not a dead end
and certainly not a friend
because all that she
could ever do
was pretend.

Failure is a teacher
and maybe just a slight delay
and not a defeat
and it gave me new direction
and next time I won't bring
so much heat
and be a little more discreet
with who I pick
and keep a sharper eye
out for those
low life tricks.

Do my words make me transparent
revealing to readers
what is inside of my head
and what makes me tick...
and failure should teach us
and not be our undertaker
but without the hurt
and without the love
I expierenced there would
be no words
and no poetry.

I am done
being walked all over
and I have picked myself up
and got back on my feet
because that is what I do
better than anything
and why I survive
so don't judge me
as there is so much more to me
than meets your disdaining eye
especially after discovering
that you were just
one big lie.                                  Jon York        2012

The love that you feel for someone,
Your fathers last breath,
Your anger toward your mother,
Your mothers remedies for everything,
The betrayal of your brothers snd sisters,
That feeling you get when you find love,
That feeling you get when your are the best at something,
Your lies about loving someone,
Your sweet little white lies about your life,
Your reasons for living,
Your emptiness,
Your hurt from old wounds,
Your soul,
Your memories,
Your disgust in yourself,
Your fate,
The beauty in ordinary things,
Your unfaithfulness,
Guilt about something terrible you have done,
Your lies about your past,
Your determination,
Your promises,
The pale walls of your existence,
Your walking away wordless from someone,
Lies about other lovers,
Talking down to people,
Your sanity, (if there is any left)
Your will to survive
The feelings you get when your are alone,
Your failing health,
The thoughts of those standing around your grave.     Jon  York          2012

So good
so glad,
with her lies
things became
bad.                                     Jon   York                 2012

Sometimes you must
take a stand, even if you are
just a grain of sand
in the ocean of life,
so you can get
inspired.

Inspiration comes
not from memories
or experiences
but from within and know
that there are no
mistakes only
lessons.

Growth is a process
of trial and error
and lessons
are often repeated
until they are
learned.  

What you make
of your life is up to you
and the answers
that you are looking for
can usually be found
within and you just have
to know when
to begin.

Like the Ocean
carries grains of sand
words carry my love
with sounds and syllables
borrowed from foreign
lands.

They errupt from
a broken heart
or unhealed
wounds and shattered dreams
or forgotten memories
and missed
chances.

I can't speak of yesterday
because there are
so many things
that I could say
but there is no good, bad,
malice or virtue,
only time and
circumstance.

So many loves have
come and gone
that I just let
slip through my hands
like grains of
sand.                        Jon York                                   2012

It can go
ever so slow
or just way
too fast.

When you
hurt it just
seems to last
forever and ever
as the pain just
seems to
hang on.

When
everything feels
right time
just flies by at
the speed
of light.

When you
watch the clock
time just
creeps along like
a giant rock.

Like lightning
the present
becomes the past
and you blink
and you don't
even have time
to think....

It is said
that time heals
everything leaving me
to wonder how long
do I have to wait
for this pain to end
even knowing that
by keeping it
I have nothing
to gain.                               Jon York                     2012

"far Out Man" was
an expression we used
in the sixties when something
was really cool
and todays kids have no clue
to a term that was once the rule
and if you survived those years
and are still here
then that is what I would say,
"far out man"
without a doubt.

What a ride
and I am so surprised
that I am still alive
after living through
so many near misses
and so many stolen kisses
that brought so many
broken hearts
after playing
so many different
parts.

Been through those doors
so many times before
and it makes me wonder
when will
I get it right and not just
end up with
a bunch of rhymes
and I wonder how many
lifetimes do I have to live
before someone
will take what I have
to give.

How many heartbreaks
can I take before
it is just too late
and how much pain
must I sustain
for somebody elses gain
and that is about all that
I have to say in this rhyme
at this time.

So either
take me as I am
or watch me as I go
and that is really
"far out, man."                                    Jon York                 2012

I can finally laugh
at what we had because
it was really so bad
and it deserves a good laugh.

Me supplying
and you just lying
and I can hear your
saying supplying what ?

Well it was something
that you were never quite
able to comprehend
and that was real love ,
truthfulness, and faith
that love was
being returned.

Pretending that it was going
to be never ending
this thing called love
and you got a good laugh
watching a man
crawling through a sea of lies
as he cried.

But the really funny part
was that it was nothing
from the very start but only lust
and that too turned
out to be a big bust.

From the beginning
you just wanted lust with
no love attached
and when love showed up
all you left was dust
in your hurry to get away
as you went looking for someone
else to play.                                         Jon York              2012

If love
can be lied about
then it never
really was.

A wound
that just won't heal
so I embrace the pain
of distant memories
of the hopes and dreams
that I had
when I was thinking
that I had so much
to gain.

What a crying shame
that I used to think
that I would die without her
but now I find myself
wishing I'd never met her,
or played her
little games.

The feeling
just will not die even
though all she ever did
was lie .

What she did
for me was give
inspiration to write
so into the night
I go to write
which is much better
than looking
for a fight.                              Jon  York                  2012

Some people are unreasonable,
illogical, miserable, self centered,
egotistical, liars, and vain
and some are insane
and don't even know it,
love them anyway.

If you do good people
will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives,
and will not acknowledge you
or thank you
for what you did for them,
do good anyway.

If you are successful
you will make false friends
and true enemies and jealously
will surround them,
succeed anyway.

The good you do today
will be forgotten tomorrow
and that will cause you much sorrow,
do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness
make you vulnerable and will cause
you to lose many 'friends',
be honest and frank
anyway.

What you spend years building
and working to achieve
may be destroyed
and be gone in the blink of an eye
and don't worry
you won't die if
all they could do is
cheat on you and lie,
build anyway.

Sometimes people will
really need your help but
will attack you if you
try to give them that help,
help people anyway.

Give the World
the best you have
and you will
get kicked in the teeth but
it's all right ,
give the World the best
that you have
anyway.                                                         ­  Jon York                        2012

Pain has left my house
because she was nothing
but a louse
and a parasitic insect
and a very contemptible
person to live with because all
she ever wanted to do
was to inflict her pain
while stealing my soul.

Along with her she took Lies and Hurt
who were really a couple of  jerks
always looking for someone or something
to infect and now the two
will just lay low until
they find somewhere else to put
on their show.

Hurt and Lies know that they
will always be needed again for control
and will always have a job to do
somewhere so they just stand by
on call and patiently wait
for another wall to climb over
and another heart
to devour.

Since Lies , Pain and Hurt work so well
together they all had to leave at once
because they know that they are not welcome
in my house anyway
so thay will just go somewhere
where they can be somebody
else's dunce.

Sorrow and Despair ******* stay either
because they felt so rejected
and they wanted to stay
with Hurt and Pain
because they were getting tired
of being locked away and having
no place to play and nothing
left to gain.

Joy and Love finally came back home
where they belonged after
being gone for so long
and I really missed them and this time
they promised that would
never leave and apoligized
for having been so deceived
and promised to stay
and be my friends till
the end.                                                    Jon York           2012

The game is over
and the winner won by
default but at what cost
as your lies gave you away
and maybe you will learn someday
that you can run
from your past but not very fast
because it will always
catch up with you.

All of your "friends"
know which way
the wind blows but
you still find a need to keep up
your "Holier than thou"
attitude  because you are so sure
that you are better than
everybody else.

Sooner or later that attitude
will sneak up behind
you and bite you on the *** because
you are as transparent as glass
and everyone knows
what you are made of as
you try to make them
think you are a
shining star.

You didn't play by the rules
but neither did I
but at least I didn't lie when
I said "I love you."

I knew the whole time that
your love wasn't true
and realized that you were full of lies
but with a past like yours
I could understand the need for lies
so I just waited for the truth to finally emerge.

At the beginning you gave me hope
and a reason to carry on
and escape those demons of war
that I carried around like
some clown.

As time passed by and we both
kept lying a lie I realized
that I would have been better off
to take a direct hit from
an incoming mortar round than have
to recycle all of the hate and anger
that you freed me of when
we first met.

Upon our meeting
you broke through to me
and made me come alive but then
you made me feel dead upon my discovering
our two years was just a big lie.

But you felt you had to win
so I played dumb
and let you think that
you had won.

Eyes so pure yet so hollow
but their innocence would whisper
in my ear sweet promises of a tomorrow
but tomorrow is here
and you are gone without ever once
saying so long nor did you make
a sound.

Not a whisper nor hark but
you should know
that I no longer miss you
in the dark because the game is over
and you lost ( by default).                                 Jon York              2012

Don't look so hard at my past because
I don't live there anymore because I
just walked out that door and besides
nothing really ever lasts and I have
discovered that only I can ever be the
author of my life and that there is
really no need for any strife about
what has happened to me.

I can't erase my mistakes but I can
laugh at them and do whatever it
takes to get past them and live to
see another day with something
more to say and I now know that
trust is like a mirror and once it is
broken you can never look at it in
the same way but the worse thing
about being lied to is knowing that
you weren't worth the truth.

I have learned from mistakes that
I have made and from all of the
times that I let others take advantage
of me and I will NEVER accept less
than I deserve and I have learned
from bad choices and now know that
there are some things that I just
can't get back and I realize that
somethings I don't ever want back.

Know that there are some people
who are not and never will be sorry
about what they did to you so just
learn to let them go so they can go
somewhere else and put on their
show and next time don't settle for
anything less than you deserve
and know which bridge to cross
and which to burn.

Anger is only one letter short of
danger so know that if someone
betrays you once it's their fault
and if they betray you twice it's
your fault and realize that the
tongue weighs almost nothing
but few can hold it so don't look
so hard and at the same time don't
get caught off guard by others lies.

Just be happy that you have
survived those lies and with them
you broke off all the ties that had
you all bound up and that you
were able to get away much to
their surprise. so don't look so hard
because you won't see the same me.   
                                                       Jon York    2012

In this silly human race there are so many
liars and cheaters who are always
getting in your face with lies
that disgrace.

Every day they look you straight in the eyes
with all of their many lies
and sometimes it is so hard
to understand why.

As humans we can only take
so much pain but so many are just
out for their own personal gain
and from inflicting pain these
liars do not refrain.

Self centered they are
just wanting to be the one and only star
as they feel the power of their lies
to those who are too scared
to ask why.

With lies they have control and power
and the ability to manipulate
when in reality their own life is
pretty sour so just walk away before
it becomes too late
and you start thinking that they might
be telling the truth on
any given day.

Realize that lying is all that they know
and that they are infectious parasites that
will disease your heart and soul
with their lies delivered to you in a chalice of
smiles and sweet kisses and be aware
that with those hugs and kisses
only come broken wishes
and steady misses.

If only
are the only two words
that can always
make one feel so lonely
as they cause you to
lose sight even though
you still have your vision...                                                        ­
                                       Jon York     2012

She will be open
and yet mysterious and concerned
but not really very serious
yet she will have class without pretence
and style without offense .

She will be able to  laugh
but will be somewhat serene
and she will take the time to dream
yet will sit in slience when there is nothing to be  
said and she will talk about her freedom
that she lives everyday.

This is the women that I look for  
and I wonder where are
you are hiding my love
because I have sought you
for so long.

I will care not whose you were
or even whose you are
because when I see you
and look into your eyes you
will know that you
are mine.

Each day without you
will never come again and I wait in hope
and sorrow thinking that maybe
you will come tomorrow
and connect with my soul.

Love was before birth
and love is after death and the emotions
that I have explored here
are very near to my heart
and I hope that I have expressed
them well.                

These were my thoughts
and emotions when I met her
but she stayed for only two years
and now now she is gone.

I sit here knowing that another
will come soon and I will try again
to make my dreams
come true.                           

I have to remember
that people live and die but
I know that there  is a place for me
in someone's eye...         Jon York        2012

I like to think
that I am nothing special,
a common man with
common thoughts that has
lived a common life.

I am just a man
with a desire to be read
by someone before
I am dead.

I am a common poet
who likes to put words together
that take one on a journey
of the senses that get people
get off of their fences.

I've been to
so many places and felt
so many different emotions
but with the emotion of love
the words just come
and come until you begin
to feel numb.

The only one emotion for me
that is really worth
writing about
is love.

When you have loved another
with all of your heart and soul
there is nothing else
that you ever need
to know and nothing will
ever compare.

This kind of love
just takes your senses on a ride
and makes you
feel funny inside.

You feel as if you had wings
and you start doing crazy things
that are beyond
your control.

Things that feel so good
and for me this has always been
enough because once you have lived
and loved in that way nothing
can ever compare.

Losing that kind of love
is a whole different story though
and of this I know
and this is a terrible place
that you don't want
to go.

Life becomes so slow
and all of a sudden you have
nowhere to hide so you just slide
into words and write poetry
hoping to ease the pain
from losing what you spent
an eternity trying to gain...                 Jon York     2012

They say time heals everything
and it's been so long
since she has been gone
and when I woke up this morning
I finally decided that
the pity party was over

I finally realized what a ****
I had been to shed so many tears
for just two lousy lost years
with her.

I finally realized that
what I had been crying over was
simply one big lie and today
I realized that she was never worth
any of those tears for those two
stupid years with her.

Wasted tears were shed because I
know now that she would just as soon
see me dead beause of
issues that
she refused to address.

These issues that for one reason
or another she chose to not share with me,
but what she didn't know is
that I could see.  

She was never truthful with me
but the crying has finally stopped
and I must thank her for all of the pain
that was for nothing but her
own personal gain .

I am sure that she is happy now
and I wish her the best but she needs to know
that the saddest part of her little game
was not all of her lies,
but the fact that she never thought
that I was worth being told the truth
and because of that I will
never be the same.

It was her choice to walk out
that front door but she needs to know
that I just don't think about
her anymore.  .......................       Jon York      2012

I do not write just for you
and I do not write
in order to catch
your eye.

In fact I'd rather some
not read my impoverished words at all
since these are my own personal
impoverished thoughts.

Who is it that I write for,
well there is no presure to impress
and no needs that need
to be met but only myself
and my sanity laid bare
and my instability for
all to see.

Seemingly too afraid to speak,
my words come alive as ink
and this for me is my only mirror
however distorted it may be.

It was all really very funny
that I got so mad and seemed
so hurt just because
I was had by the Kansas Queen
of mean.

She did it so clean almost
like a surgeon at work
just cutting me to pieces like
I was some ****.

But I can still smile
and I would still go that
extra mile for that kind of love
but not for that kind of person
who lacks  somewhat
in style.

Her life is only one big lie
and she knows it
but those that surround her think
she is nothing but blue Sky.

In truth she can
hardley wait to tell
just one more lie in order to watch
a grown man cry.

Just so you know
my world will go on since you left
but I will never be the same
only left behind holding on to empty
memories smothered
in lies.

Why the addiction to your memories,
because moments come and pass
but those like time machines
and broken dreams
are unforgettable.

I can only look back on what
I was on that very first day that we met
and had the feeling of a driven cause
and for some stupid reason
thought that you
felt it too.

But I am stuck in the now,
broken somehow
and it is still unforgettable.

No longer can I breathe you in
letting your arms hold me safe and tight
as you take me
through the night.

All I really want now
is my freedom from this spiral cage
and my chance to dance again
into my never ending
night and the rain.

I don't think I could find
the right words to let you know exactly
what you mean to me and I know that you think
it doesn't really matter but no other thought
could make me sadder.

Sometimes I am so confused
and unsure of what to say
but sometimes
it just turns out that way.......  Jon York         2012

She was my Angel in Disguise
as I thought I could tell
by looking into her eyes,
I wrote this in a
Published book
of Poetry called
"WHISPERS"
A COLLECTION
OF SHORT WORKS,"
which I wrote after
we met, and little did I know
that she would make
short work of me
and just go.

When in reality I didn't take
a close enough look
because I discovered that she
was telling me ONLY lies.

She turned out
to be both my HEAVEN and my HELL,
and not really my
blue skies, but
only LIES.

She was both
the DISEASE and the CURE,
I was never really sure,
her being the sickness that made
me well after my return from
my own personal HELL - (PTSD).

Being both
a SAINT and a SINNER,
I had to lose to her to
become a WINNER.

She was my ANGEL
and my DOOM and my life
she did CONSUME by being both the
BEST and the WORST and
the remedy that
made me fall.

My success with her
lead me to my downfall
as she became
my worst NIGHTMARE and
my favorite dream but her LIES soon
showed me that
she was not the person that
she seemed.

She wore a HALO,
but came from the DEEP,
waking me up and
putting me back to sleep,
without so much as a peep.

My ANGEL in DISGUISE
showed me her true colors
by all of her many lies.
Oh well, is all I could say after finding
out that she was really
from HELL.  

She will continue to play
her little game of lies and deceit
with all of her other stupid men who
are crying at her feet because
that is what makes her complete.  

Me, I will live to see another day because
I was fortunate enough
to get away after seeing
her in that way.                             Jon York       2012

She knew me,
from my words and able
to feel my pain that was crouched
in widom and carefully hidden
but nevertheless sometimes I feel
the echoe of old hurts
whispering across my mind
passing like shadows
across my spirit.

I am deeply touched
by her need to heal and soothe
with loves tender touch
and sometimes I feel
as though I do not choose it
but rather it chooses me!

I am helpless to do
anything other than to
let it wash across
my soul.

My heart weeps
and tears flow freely
to mend the wound
and to let joy come
once more
and I can only rest
when I know
that there is peace.

These are only words,
but words are
all I have to take
her heart away.        Jon York     2012

As we wind down the road of life,
one learns that people will forget what
you said to them and forget what
you did for them,
but people will never forget
how you made them feel,
unless of course they
were never real.

Falling down or getting
knocked down is part of living
but getting back up is living
and everyone that
you meet is fighting some
kind of battle with themselves,
with someone or with
something.

You have to forget the bad
and forget the pain because it
will go away and you will live
to see another day
no matter what they had
to say about you.

Sometimes it just hurts
so bad and you become so sad
that you find that you must
turn it around and let
the other person be the clown
and then they will be
the one wearing
a frown.

So you just focus on the good
even though you did everything
that you could
because life is too short to be
anything but happy
even thought some peoples behavior
is really ******.

So break the rules
and forgive quickly, kiss again slowly,
laugh again uncontrollably
and never regret anything
that makes you
smile.  

Try to live each day
to the fullest knowing that
you went that
extra mile knowing
that you would be
left on the floor in a pile,
but you went
out in style and
got back up
on your feet again
knowing that next time
you will win.                               Jon York         2011

Life is a journey
through the past,
living in the present,
facing the future.

People come into our lives,
maybe only for a day,
a month or maybe for
a year or two.

As those paths cross,
there is always a lesson
to be learned no matter
how brief.

One brief moment
can touch you for a
lifetime or may turn
your world upside down.

Love's spell is simple
and timeless, but pain
cripples your course.

Weep and you weep alone,
rejoice and people will see you,
grieve and they turn and go.

Move along even if all is gone,
love again without fear for
the end might be near.

Now you see it, now you don't,
things change so fast and
nothing seems to last anymore.

If you need to cry,
cry out all of your tears,
then you will be able to smile
again and you will be able
to get through it, this time
called life.                                           Jon York     2011

Quietly she sits waiting,
thinking,considering, powerful
and strong, wise and knowing,
yet gentle as the dawn light
slipping softly over the mountain top,
and she is as beautiful within
as without, still and deep as the
spring of cool clean water.

What brought us together,
the woman - child and the
quiet man from a far away
land is maybe a common
thread woven into the
fabric of time.

She dreamt of me, knew me
and recognized me in an
instant by my words and
she felt my spirit reaching
out for her.

I seek this one thing, though
I don't know what it is and I
spend my time searching for
that one missing piece and
perhaps one day she will
come to me and bring with
her the quiet peace that I seek
with that breath of fresh air.     Jon York    2011

Love has come and gone as the years just keep
on flying by, but this last one hurt so bad that
I just wanted to die, at least until I found out
that it was all just a series of thoughtless lies.

I've been through so many loves that I guess this
one was just a bad penny. So full of promises
and hope and I believed her like some stupid
dope and in the end it became nothing but
a bad joke.

How foolish of me to ever think something
of substance was behind that beautiful wink
and those pretty words and that delicate
touch that flooded my mind with false bliss.

She lives day to day in an endless search
for her own personal gratifications, only
living to gain and only gaining for herself.

I wrote so many pretty words to catch her eye,
but she doesn't read me and never even tried,
leaving me to wonder why.

I have spoken my truths and lived her lies and
spoke of loves power to overcome pain but the
fact of the matter is only pain still remains.

Love is a game, perhaps the hardest game
around because there are no rules, but I will
win the next game and you can bet that I
won't play the same way that I did this last
one that was filled with shame.   
                                               Jon York   2011

If I was asked to go
to war for my County
I'd do it again,
even knowing what it
did to me in the end,
I would go through that
door once again.

If false love and lies
showed up at my door
again in the guise of
an Angel asking me for
help and love and giving
me only lies, I'd do it again,
even knowing of the pain
and heartache she would
bring me in the end,
I would still try to be her
friend and I'd do it again
and try to pretend.

If giving a person all of
your heart and soul while
she takes it apart and rips
in it a big hole, I do it again
because it hurt so good
even knowing her feelings
were hard as wood.

If I had life to live over,
I'd probably follow the
same path of all of the
sorrow and pain, only
hoping to gain knowledge
of my purpose here because
the time I have spent here
has been so dear.                               Jon York   2011

Only darkness and tears when she left,
but now I am able to see after she finally
told me the truth and I was able to see
her in a different light.

In the beginning she said, "you are the one
that I have been looking and waiting for
all of these years," and I felt like I had
been hit by a door, not knowing then
my heart would end up on the floor.

I felt from the beginning that something
wasn't quite right and only now have I
finally seen the light.


Upon realizing that I had been living her lie
for two years only brought me pain and tears,
but now there will be no more cries and all
it took was for her to say ,"you just
don't give me butter flies," at which point
I realized all that I got from her were lies.

Suddenly it was oh so clear and the anger
was gone and the hurt was no longer there,
after finding out that we were never really
a pair.

The tears are now laughter and smiles,
after thinking about all of those miles
that I wasted on what I thought was
my dream come true.

I still have a lot of life to live and a lot
of love to give, and finally I am able
to breathe again.                                      Jon York  2011

So what if I didn't
give her butter flies,
who needs butter flies
if you have real love.

Life isn't a paperback
novel or a romantic
Hollywood movie.
Butter flies quickly
disappear as soon as
they appear but real
love stays.

So what if she could only
pretend that she loved me,
so she could use me. She is
the one who has to live with
herself and look into
the mirror everyday.

So what if I didn't really
love her, but only loved
what I wanted her to be
and what I knew she was
capable of being.

It is all the same, it's all
a big game that we call life.
Two people play their parts
because they think that they
don't want to be alone but
soon discover that they have
to answer to that person who
loves them and and that they
supposedly loved back, so they
go back to being alone.

So what if somebody gets hurt,
for life is full of hurt and lies and
it is how you deal with those false
promises that determines
who you are in the end.

So what if money changes
everything because that's
just the way it is and the
way that it will always be.

So what if we go through life
never really happy but
only pretending to be happy,
for obtaining happiness is
different for every person.

So what if everybody goes
through life with their own idea
of what it takes to be happy and
what they think they are being
told by society as to what
they need to be happy.

Get over it, we are all going to die
and it is up to you to decide how
you want to life your life while
your here on earth until you
get there, happy or not.

So what if you choose wrong,
it's all the same, it's just all
a big game and you must
learn how to play it in order
to survive.                                     Jon York   2011

A capricious sprite looking only
for a temporary delight at anothers
expense. She changes from
sultry woman grown to
laughing child and back to
woman again deeply caring
and tender, but you had better
be a big spender.
Like quicksilver they slide
and merge, one upon the other
till they are all one, the woman
and the child, the poor mother who
had to raise all of those
kids by herself, so I sat there thinking,
considering what to do,
should I move there to be
with her,  to help her,
and will she accept me.
I thought I could make
her dream come true
but instead I made her blue.
I thought if I came to her
I could make a special
World for her and I so
I sold my house
and said I'll be there soon
and not once did I wonder
if she was ready for me
or consider what would happen
if she didn't want me.
She said she recognized me
in an instant by my words
and said she had dreamt
of me and felt my spirit
reaching out for her.
She was forced to lie,
she had no other choice,
so I have to say that
I am totally to blame
for her little game
of saying "I love you,"
and "you are the one
I have been looking
for all of these years."
She should have said
"I don't think you should
be here." She could have
made it more clear but my love
smothered her leaving her
unable to speak, so she could
only seek a way out with
lies upon lies and more lies.
Without a doubt it was my fault
for being in love and forcing
her to lie and laugh at me as I cried.
But now I realize that
I am better off, and see
that it was all my fault.                      Jon  York   2011

When a poet cries,
tears are his words,
and so many are
coming from this poet,
as I write looking for
a rhyme because my heart
aches so much  it seems
a crime.
This paper is my sleeve,
wiping away the tears
that form a delicate weave
deciding what to say about her,
each teardrop with a life
of it's own as they fall
down on to the paper.
I will continue to cry until
the right words are found,
because  my love for her
was not a gift to be given,
it was a love that wanted
to be accepted and accepted
I thought it was when
she said to me,
"Could you really be the one
I've searched for in
all of my sixty years," the one
I've dreamed about
and shed so many tears?"
going on to say,
"thank you Jesus for this man
I've looked for so very long
and I will treat him like the gold
he is and sing my happy song."
This love I'll never lose I thought,
and this is a joy I cannot refuse.
But her parting left in my heart
a big hole and she does not wilt
at my cries and I know she
does not fret, for in her
I found reprise.
The love she gave me
I won't forget, but my
loneliness harms me,
becoming darkness,
a broken heart startled
into awareness.
I am horribly ashamed
because I find I've gotten lost
with no one to find me,
but I only blame myself.
Mornings are the hardest
for me because she is all
I see in my thoughts,
but by afternoon the pain
is mostly gone but thoughts
of her never leave and
I continue to grieve.
So happy for two years in
what now seems such
a short time and now all
I am left with is a rhyme.            Jon York    2011

When I awoke on the
morning of my 63rd
Birthday I found my
Sun had been here and gone,
like a thief in the night,
when all I was doing
was trying to get it right,
not thinking it would
turn into a fight.
  I thought I knew you
so well but because I was
in love with you, I did not
recognize what I saw in
you now as you walked
away knowing that you were
not coming back anytime soon.
  I can't play your games and
because of you I now realize
that I am much to strong
not to come alive. It has been
too long since I felt this way,
able to see myself in a brand
new way.
  I realize now that you were
holding me down, but I can
turn it around even though
I changed my life to be with you
only to be compromised by
your thoughtless lies.
    I thought you were my
"Angel in Disguise,"but you
turned out to be one big lie.
I thought that we had so much
but two years later you
won't even touch.
  I won't look back because
it is done but we had some
fun for such a brief time
that just dissappeared too fast,
a time I was sure would last.
  Tomorrow is another day,
the first without you
by my side in such a long time
,but I'll be ok, I'll just find
another part to play with
someone else who says
they care and who knows,
maybe our paths will cross
again someday and you can
laugh and say
"I knew him when and
I left him on his Birthday,"
such sweet sorrows,
but it brought me
a better tomorrow.                                         Jon York 2011

Do you remember many
years ago when you were
so young and you could
get anything done?
You blink and everything
has changed and you look
around and life seems so
strange and everything
has been rearranged.
Your loved ones and those
you called friends have gone
leaving you  to only cry and
to wonder why.
Don't live life too fast because
everyday that you wake up
might be your last.
Another blink and you begin
to think that you are on the
down side of your life and
you say to your wife,
"where did it go?"
Sit back and slow things down
so you won't feel like a clown
as the World just spins around.
Realize that the time you have left
can be the best and you can take
what defines you to rest because
that is how you affected others
and how you will be remembered.
Don't let the remaining years
bring too many tears as you
come to terms with the fact
that it will all be over in the
blink of an eye.
Have fun while your enjoying
that last run and do something
for number one.                                Jon York      2011

I celebrate your eyes
because they looked
at me without
restraint or shame,
and since that moment
I have never been
the same.

I celebrate your *******,
for in the darkest night
I could find them and
since that first touch
our love has felt
so right.

I celebrate your tears,
should you cry for
something I have done.

I celebrate the years that
we are together,
as they just seem to
disappear so fast,
but we both know
that this is a love
that will last.

Most of all through
it all I celebrate
the God that gave me
you and asked for
nothing in return.               Jon York     2011

You are there for me
when I need you to be,
it is so easy to see
that you belong to me
and that I will grow old
with you by my side
just like you had always
been there, but I was
just too blind to see.

Words had carried
my love to you and
now we are face to face,
in each others arms
knowing together
we will win this race.

Tomorrow is another day,
but tonight I hold you
as I watch the world
flying by in the blink
of an eye, your smile
engraved in
my every thought,
knowing that I love you
as much now as I did
on that very first day.

I still feel the warmth
from your glow and
the beating of your
heart deep down
inside of me and we
both know that it
is about you
that I am.                Jon York    2011

Words of my love for her
come every day,
I just don't know what else to say.
Her eyes show the real  beauty,
that is relected in her soul.

The passion that she shows,
and her beauty as a woman,
with the passing years only grows.

Her love appeared to me
out of nowhere and along
with it came the tears.

They were tears of joy
because we finally found
one another after all
of these years.

We share so much more
then either knew was possible,
and the sixty years that it took
to find her seemed but the
blink of an eye.

Time doesn't matter now,
what is important is that
we are together and every
day that we have is a special
blessing from above.                  Jon York      2011

I can still remember
those very first moments
that were so tender,
on that first day
when our eyes met
and I stole
that first kiss,
and it was
at that moment
that I knew that
I couldn't miss.

It was just
the right season,
and we both had
the right reason,
so we took hold
of each other
and haven't let go
eighteen months later.

 Our lips met
within an hour,
and neither of us
felt any sorrow
just relief
and hope for
a strong tomorrow.

It was a meeting
that was long overdue
and for both of us,
it felt so good
because neither 
 had any reason
to be blue.

It was scary at first,
but we soon
found out
that we both had
that same thirst
for a real love
with no falseness
or lies and
a relationship that
had strong ties.

We soon realized
it was a first
for each of us
to feel so right,
as we got lost
into the night.

Eighteen months later
and I stll
miss her
when she is gone
for the day
and I still don't
know what
to say
when I see her
except
"I love You."

We still embrace
as if we were
just starting
the race,and
to this day
we both still
wonder if this
is real because
we are so happy  
neither of us
has to steal love
anymore
and we are so
sure of the way
we feel.            Jon York   2011

It's been over forty  years,
but I still feel the tears from
thirteen months of combat in
a  no - win  situation called
Vietnam. The years just keep passing
by, and still many Vietnam
Veterans die, and no one wants
to admit why.
The anger and saddness is
still there and what makes it
worse  is a society that acts
as if they care, acting like
they know where we had to go
and what we had to do, and
now they just stare.

Our tears flow for our brothers
whose names are on that Wall,
the ones who answered the call
and gave all.

It is American tradition to honor
War Veterans, but they shut the
door on us and some just can't
forget.
For some better late than never,
but for me it just won't go away.

Now a whole new generation
in a different era thinks a  simple
" welcome home " will do. A
generation that is blind to what
went on, and the the injustice
that we were served,
a generation that looks the other
way when the homeless living on
the street try to speak .
A generation that ignores the number of
Vietnam Veterans taking their
own lives every day.
The shock of this is so much,
I  just don't know what to say.

Some of us choose to live another
day and this new generation
honoring us needs to know
that we will not just go away and
that they will have to deal with
us someday, giving more than
just a " welcome home" that
comes a little late, and they need
to know  why our minds are in such
a  f*^k^d   up state.
                              Jon York  USMC Vietnam  1969 -70

,

As we get older we get much bolder,
not something like we used to
just throw over our shoulder.
We think about when we were young,
and how with the territory came dumb.
So strong, so agile, but we soon found
out that it only lasts awhile, that
physical peak is here and gone
leaving us with only a smile and we
wish that it had lasted more than
a song.

It seems things around us get better
as the the years pass us by, as we pay
more attention to each other. Gaining
wisdom and learning so much as things
just keep going by us faster and faster,
and if we don't keep up with the pace,
we seem to be losing the race and find
ourselves headed for disaster. We
learn what we didn't even know we
didn't know, and we have to know
what is really just for show.

Us old geezers find love comes
so much easier, even if you have been
in the deep freezer.  We don't have
to spend so much time trying to
please her. We know if the others
love is true, the games are gone and
we just get  strong realizing that we
might not be around very long.

Getting older,we take life more in
stride because we realize that we
are nearing the end of this crazy,
ride, and that it could all be over
in the blink of an eye. We soon
come to the realization that we
are all going to die, so we watch
those around us fade away, and
we wonder  why we are still here,
and know that it might happen
any day leaving you with nothing
to say.

Every new sunrise that we are given
we realize is a blessing, and we don't
need to worry anymore how we
might be dressing.

Now we know that the best part of
our lives is  now so we savor every
moment that we are given, because
the past is gone and tomorrow isn't
here yet and now is all we have , so
we touch like there might never be
a tomorrow and hope to avoid the
sorrow of what is happening as
we get older, we know our place and
what we have yet to face, and it sure
ain't no leather and lace.

So all I can say is what the hell,
lets rock and roll !                       Jon York  2010

Words  cannot  do  justice
to  your  love, but  I  reveal
myself  to  you in  that  way,
because  I am  so  thankful
for  each  new  day, and
know  that  you  are  here
to  stay.

Your  head  on  my  che­st
in  the  morning  says  so
much  without  you  saying
a  word,­ and  the  touch  of  
your  hands  speak  louder
than the morning  Sun, and 
 I  just have  to  come  undone.

The taste of  your lips and
the  softness  of  your  skin,
and  your  loving  sounds
can ­ get  rid  of  any  frowns,
and  by  now  you  know  that
I  kind of got use to having
you  around.
                                    Jon York   2010

Where do the years go ?
They just go by so fast,
nothing seems to last.

High School, the best years
of your life it seems and
after that they just fly by
in what seems like a flash.
When you are young you
don't look back because
you have no past.

You go to War a boy and
come home a man and
everything has changed.
You are not the same and
you never will be.

You wake up one day,
you have kids and can't
believe they are grown,
you wonder how did
it happen so fast. Now
you have a past and want
what is happening to last.

Nothing lasts you soon discover,
except the love that you have
carried with you for your
parents and others.

Your parents fade away,
a loss you
never thought you would
have to face. You try to put it
out of your mind at all costs,
but when the time comes you
just carry on knowing it was
a necessary loss.

Grandkids appear and you realize
that you are old and wonder
why you were never told that
it would be like this.

You can't stop the years or
the flow of tears as the years
come at you so fast, and then
you realize that it is the same
for everybody, nothing lasts.

You look around and see that
everybody has gotten older,
your kids have kids and you
are a grandfather.

You can't help but wonder,
how did the years get by you
so fast, then you remember
what your mom said, "nothing lasts".
                                                   Jon York

You brought my emotions alive again,
you made made laugh, you made me cry
and you made me feel alive.
Together we made the past the past,
knowing that we are the future.
You make me smile in the morning and
I kiss you softly to sleep at night.

There is a special bond that no one can see,
I speak your thoughts before you say them,
and you know what is on my mind before I
tell you, and it seems that you always kinow
what to do.

Our hearts have found a home, but the path
was sometimes rocky and  paved with tears,
but  each of the steps toward one another
made our joining much more sincere.

Real love sometimes we have to work  to find,
especially when life gets in the way, but this
kind of love is worth  fighting  for  because
this kind of love will  always  stay.

The search is over because this love is just
too strong to deny, and I don't even have to
ask why. You inspired me, is What You Did
and I give thanks for each new day with
you at my side.                                           Jon York

Sometimes we have to go
that extra mile and we will always
end up where and with whom we
should be.
In reality we always seem to know
the right thing to do but
the really hard part is doing it.
We learn and grow with each choice
that we make and try to make
everything worth it.
We are powerful because
we have survived.
The more walls that we build
around our heart the harder
we will fall when someone tares
those walls down.
Real loss is only possible when we
can love something or someone
more than we love ourselves.
We need to just be who we are,
wait our turn and not push,
just be beautiful and be grateful.
We can hold up our heads no matter what,
and we can't let them try
to stomp us out.
If we have something to offer,
maybe someone will learn something from us.
It isn't education, it's history and it's poetry,
so just  keep going forward and
try not to care what anybody thinks and  
do what you have to do for you and
may you always find a reason to smile.                                       Jon York      2010

As you walked through the door,
our eyes met and with no regret
I knew that I was going to spend
the rest of my life loving you.

The moment our lips touched,
I felt the longing in your heart,
and that you were ready for
a new start, and you wanted
this so much.

Your heart danced with my soul,
and  knew that it was finally whole,
at that very  beautiful moment.

Your eyes spoke a language that
I understood oh so well.  I was
like a prize fighter waiting for the
bell, ready to engage in the fight
of my life, knowing that this one
I would not lose.

Seems you always know what to say,
and when to pray.
When I try to hide my tears, you sense
them and understand my pain, and you
send your healing smile my way,
realizing that we have much to gain.

There was something so very special
that very first day, and  a year later,
and our hearts are still intertwined and
the love still remains, so sweet, so rare,
because we both acted on a dare for a
love that seems to have no rhyme or
reason, it is just there.
                                                    Jon York

The pain
just doesn't go away,
seems we have to
deal with Charlie everyday.
So many triggers,
in our heads that make us
wonder if,
we would be better off dead.

We live from
day to day,
some hour to hour,
wondering what to say
to those who just can't
understand the pain
and sorrow that we feel,
as a combat Veteran.

We are a band of brothers
who stepped up, stood up proud,
and went to War
for a Country we loved,
only to return to a Country
full of hate and disrespect.

Vietnam Veterans
continue to take their own lives
daily, some 40 years later
because some are tired
of fighting the War in their heads,
and fighting for help,
from a Gov't
that doesn't seem to care.
We are tired of asking for respect,
because we stood up for your freedom.

We still wait for just
for one sincere "thank you",
or a true "wellcome home",
that we never got,
better late than  never for some,
just a little too late
for me and many others.

Some 58,000
gave their all, most
still in their youth but
old enough to die,
for a War that was just a big lie,
and all they got was
their name on a Wall.

Those of us who survived
still fight the triggers in our heads,
and try to help those brothers
who would rather be dead,
those fellow warriors
with so much pain
that they feel as if
they have nothing to gain.

Self respect takes away
some of that pain,
but we have to heal
from the inside first.

But for now
we heal at the Wall
and touch our brothers
and friends who gave it all,
those who dared to
stand tall
for your  freedom.             Jon York