While on this voyage
keep your windows clean because
if you break down
you can still enjoy the view
as the world goes by because
about the time you learn
to make the most of life
most of it is gone but age
is a matter of the mind
- if you don't mind,
it doesn't matter.

realize that anyone
can get old,
all you have to do
is live long enough
because it takes a long time
to become old.

Learn that it is not about
getting a chance but it is about
taking a chance and understand
that we are strong
because we are weak
and we are beautiful
because we have flaws
and we are fearless
because we have been afraid
and wise because we have
been foolish.

As the world goes by
I am left with coils of memory
as the time flies whether
we are having fun or not
but at least I have learned
to know the difference between
a good love and a bad love
and that is simple
- a good love never ends
and in the end love is the only thing
we are left with after all
is said and done.

I have gone from long hair
to longing for hair
and from acid rock
to acid reflux and from
rocking out with the Rolling Stones
to being worried about
having kidney stones
but I still rock and roll
and will till I die and
that is no lie.

I don't know when or how
it happened and
I never saw it coming going
from tight bulging muscles
and a flat stomach and
a full head of brown  hair
now replaced with folds
and salt and pepper thined out hair
along with a gray beard
and bones that need care
and fall I don't dare.

Once upon a time
eyes like an eagle able to
pick off a VC at 1200 yards
with one shot and one ****
in a far away war time won't forget
in that far away place
so long ago but now
my focus is slow
and I wish I didn't know now
what I didn't know then.

If only I could stop my mind
but a man is not old
as long as he is seeking something
and growing old is nothing
more than a bad habit
which a busy man has
no time to form.  

Know that you are young
at any age if we are still planning
for a tomorrow and as the world
flies by we have to realize
that it is better to be hated
for what you are
than to be loved
for what you are not
and remember that you were
born an original so
don't die a copy.             Jon York          2013

Sweat stings my face—  
not from effort,  
but from holding it together  
too long.

Something’s gone quiet  
deep inside.  
Not peace.  
Just absence.

My heart feels hollowed  
by repetition.  
Even pain gets bored  
when it’s expected.

I’m suffocating  
under normalized collapse.  
Spacing out like it’s ritual.  
Fading  
like my body forgot how to stay loud.

Ran thinned.  
Worn through.  
Care spilled out  
and didn’t come back.

There’s no scream.  
Just dust in the throat.  
Just me,  
still here,  
watching the nothing pile up  
like it might mean something again.