Peace of Mind

This is a poem/turned song that I started and have yet to finish - Dave

Peace of Mind

By David Karp

I got three dollars in my pocket

And a penny for my thoughts

If that were true, I’d be a rich man

It’s the working life I’ve got

And if I hit the big time

Baby, I’ll leave this town behind

And escape the things that bind me

And find a little peace of mind

And I could just sit here for hours

And dream the day away

But when the dream don’t come true

Oh, I should have knew it’s be the lesson every day

And if I hit the big time

Baby, I’ll leave this town behind

And escape the things that bind me

And find a little peace of mind

It’s just me and my coffee

Yeah, they know me here by name

They ask “how’s life goin’?”

I smile and say “just playin’ the same old little game”

And if I play my card’s right

Baby, I’ll leave this town behind

And escape the things that bind me

And find a little piece of mind

Untitled and Czech Countryside

There is an endless blue in you,
Far darker than blue,
Its in stark contrast to black,
Endless and infinite,

Even as you sit staring at the endlessly shifting screen of interchangeable earth,
And walk in light to the sun,
While a butterfly beats it's wings causing a notion of calm around the world,
For the smoke fades in the last winds of time,

Then infinite is bountiful in it's final page,
Turning to white with no light as the sun ate you whole,
Staying land locked with the endless before you,
To afraid to explore anything but home,

The blue turns dusk spotted lights,
Froth bursts lightly like fire and cannons-and green too becomes a desire-
in the spot of ecstasy,
Of intolerable imaginative beliefs-

for the light to never fade
like love fading from hearts.

The poem was untitled so as the reader can form a meaning that is significant to themselves. If I had labeled it anything but a poem, I felt it would have lost most of it's essence.
The following poem was written while I was studying abroad in the Czech Republic.

Justin Vaisnor

Czech Countryside

Green and yellow

Fields of grass,

Dark clusters of

Inviting trees,

Rolling homely hills.

From out of the ground,

An uncomforting image.

Smoke travels high,

Spewing to the atmosphere,

Like a dreaded mushroom cloud.

The fields, the forests,

And those holy glorious hills,

Are disturbed by monsters.

The number,

Like the number of directions,

And neither,

Can point to what is right.

Those beasts help and harm,

The gigantic smoke stacks expel,

Pain and questions.

Summer 2010, Czech Republic

   Justin Vaisnor

The Casualty and The Observer

I'm putting these two poems together because they belong in the same short collection I plan to finish in the near future. Thanks!- Dave

taken by a friend of me watching the sunrise on Masada

The Casualty

By David Marcus Karp

You will see, boys

You will see

City lights reflecting bac on me

I am nothing

Without time flying

I’ll let the world be

You’ll find it, you’ll see

I am lost now

In a sea of sunlight

Old city walls glow with time that’s gone

Everybody

Searching for their own sense of peace

All the children crying in a song

Prayers are blowing

Through dust and wind

Tryin’ to find an ear that will listen

The desert’s flooding

With tears of broken hearts

Won’t anybody look at the world today?

Riots, rage and rubble

Shouldn’t tell my story

I swear that one day

I’ll find this place’s glory

I swear that one day

I’ll find this place’s glory

The Observer

By David Marcus Karp

The fire falls

The sirens cry

The sky is silent

And so am I

What’s happened here

What story’s told

Could any person

Be so bold?

Sometimes it gets so cold

Sometimes I feel so old

I wanna love the world again

No Harm, Love True Too?

Through the skies that reach toward the heavens,

To the place I fantasize,

There lived a fairly new-fairly fair to call-beauty,

One has never seen,

She had eyes of pearls,

Skin of budding flowers in the fresh fallen rain,

Alone in the notion,

She dreams of a peaceful ocean in pearly blue,

No not in a tower,

She can’t rest even one hour,

Looking down upon those that would-

Look down upon her,

She throws back the curtains-light streams through,

Wind rushes around,

She screams a triumphant summon,

Her voice is loud and true,

None can hear for they are not aware,

Of the beauty standing there,

She bare her soul to those abound,

And if you dare say she means harm-you lack charm,

Blinded by shades of sound,

Deaf of light forth screens,

Touch what is really there-that physical story,

That which is around you-love you once knew,

Feigning life and people is not true,

Not to me-not to you,

She would bawl no more should one realize,

None can mask that which is materialized.

Justin Vaisnor

So Much More to Hear

rap is to represent,

folk is for all folks,

rock compared to the man-

kind'a like jazz to bop and

blues for the soul,

whereas soul is just soulful,

and hip-hop not for the hipster,

mainstream is by far lamestream,

but reggae don't care,

and dubstep don't ya dare,

electronica is no prima donna,

though you could catch me at the opera,

no matter your preference one thing's for certain:

no one can ever say music has had it's final curtain.

Justin Vaisnor

O! Distractions

By Justin Vaisnor

O!

Videogames, I’ll play-

Music, I’ll listen to-

Concerts! I’ll go see them make beau-

television, what lies does the news hold this day?

movies, what do my peers dream of through cgi?

O!

Facebook, I’ll look at-

…Mobile device, I’ll talk to-

Youtube, I’ll vote on what I see-

articles, journals, magazines, novels, newspapers-

whatever! reading is such a hassle.

O!

Family, let’s drink-

Friends, let’s drink-

I, will drink like nothing’s wrong-

Radio, what do you say and not show?

Privacy, what can’t you hide?

O!

Freedom, I’ll provide-

Love, the seed to sow-

O! if I can only feel-O!

distractions all around-

my, non-environmentally sound nature.

O!

Self-destruction, I’ll blow up in my face-

O!

Money, I’ll be more corrupt than you honey-

O!

O! O! Life! I’ll lose control to the world that has a knife!

Responsibility, what have I done?

Trust, what have you?

The Wide Awake Weekend Poems

So I wrote these two poems when I had insomnia this past weekend and didn't sleep the Friday night-Saturday morning. Hope you enjoy!- Dave

4:11 am

By David Marcus Karp

Sea of reflections of the night

Streetlights guide me through the open

Flashes of electricity excite the eyes

Through the tunnel of steel thunder

Sleeping, woken, moving, THINKING

Nothing, guarding, loving, thinking

Nothing, nothing, lying, thinking

Nothing, nothing, nothing, thinking

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing

Where do I go from here?

Home was such a yesterday

Dreaming is the present

Finding “fearless” future feels forever

Can I go back a few stops?

Time is non-existent now

But only a few stops away

This is…

Insomnia

By David Marcus Karp

When you can’t tell apart sunrise from sunset

And your eyes are useless shutters

Thoughts from head, heart, and soul collide

And you just become part of any crowd wandering

You’ve seen me in the deadest of nights

I’m good nor bad, just another reality

I’m walking the streets of raw consciousness

Or driving on empty streets looking for a friend

Waiting for some dreamed up escape

And rolling the dice on truth

It’s the only honest deal in a world gone astray

And you realize you may have always been the only one awake

Sometimes

By David Marcus Karp

Sometimes, when I’m sitting alone

I feel safest, and I feel happy

Knowing that I’m content with my life

Music plays, people live, and the air is bittersweet

But sometimes, I feel paranoid

Like they all look at me and even sometimes see nothing there

Sometimes I feel the eyes

And they make me shiver endlessly, and I see my breath in the coldness of myself

Why? Because I don’t care

Sometimes I realize that I’m not perfect

And the perfectionist in me becomes a little white lie

Sometimes the loneliness stares me in the eyes

And stands between everything I stand for

I find in me both a paradise and a paradox

And the reality gets harder to the touch

But that’s the price you pay

When you want nothing but the truth everyday

You take whatever’s in stock

Happy, sad, good, bad

As long as it’s not a lie, as long as it makes you feel something

That’s the way I live

Sometimes I feel happy, sometimes I feel sad

Sometimes I feel lonely, sometimes I feel content

No matter which “sometimes” it is

I always feel alive.

Fear or Love? Evermore?

Cast

            Away the vision of yesterday, use the pill of soma to feel no soma.

Dodge

            The arrow from cupid whose aim is to slay, to bring forth a coma.

Lie

            No longer or dismay, truth is more tranquil than a sauna.

Say

            What you wish to say, feels more comforting than your momma.

Give

            All that you are today, and find you will be here longer.

Act

            As you really are, the world is not one for the seller.

Crumble

            The walls of black tar, make your lungs even clearer.

For

            You stand among the rest, unwilling to get nearer.

Love

            Will be our greatest test, we must not fear the terror.

Get together-it is great!-when one looks into the mirror.

By Justin Vaisnor