coffee and apples

Do we really even know
What we want anymore
Give me peace
Give me war
Take a century to ask yourself

Stand and speak
Spread your seeds
Make me money
Make me poor
Hanging safely from the ceiling
You can see the floor
You can only fall so far
Before you can’t fall anymore

You go through all the motions
That she sent for you
Choose one and run with it
She says you
Loved her once
Send her a white dove
Through the skies of the capitals
If it were only that simple
Tape it to the wall
Like a penny for your thoughts
And accusations based
On what you think will happen
On the grounds of
Coffee and apples
Rotting down to the rind

Leave it to the other side of the pillow talk
When we both fall asleep
Yet still pretend to listen

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

paper trail

I used to follow a paper trail
before the bridge I was
wearing out the holy grail
in the four walls of my mind
closing in all the time
a spark is all it needs
a loss of three
I stand numb in the corner
nightmare
nightmare
tonight I stare
perfectly into the black
the red light
at the top breaks through
but you don't look back

from another town
a paper trail came after you
what are you gonna do
you can burn it all down
yet it never goes away
You stand alone in the corner
What does the space
feel like between
still life in black and white
or color imagery

today you stare
perfectly into the black
the white light
at the top breaks through
but you don't turn back

I should be feeling pity
Though I don't feel a thing
I should be feeling pity
Though I don't feel a thing

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

mayday

Pause
I think I
Heard a sound
Just a distant static now
Signals the last goodbye
Our hope disappears with
The decommissioned satellite
Clear out of orbit

Mayday
We wait
Hesitating
In this haven
We thought was safe
Reacting to a riff in the airwaves
Backs to the wall
Young and old
We scrawl out our names
Save our souls
The message relayed
To outer space

A martyr
Is what we need
Although they’re
Getting harder to find
As we grow further apart
Misdirection
My sleight of hand
Hides all the cards

Give the call
Put the ball into play
All in all
Mayday

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

backwards

High road
Traffic’s crowded
Go with the flow
Detour has me misrouted
It’s not your time to go yet
The jury is still out

Everyone turns around
The ones that went at all
Everyone but me
I of the leaden feet
Backwards

Momentum
Now that your doubt is gone
In front of everyone
You throw out your arms to explode
I’m sorry to impose

Test subjects
Reference
The impulse
What’s left of such results
Believe in what they see
What they’re led to believe
Then begin their steps
Rank and file
Backwards

You can read into it
You can read into it
You can read into it
Go ahead and read into it

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

silver rain

A man tells me
I should place faith
Not what’s in the sky but what I see
That I should take my weight
Off the world
And let it turn for me

Let the games begin
This time I’m gonna let you win
Shaving points off my own score
Pin the blame on me
You know it’s true

Was it as good for you?
Could it be purity
Why wait for the ecstasy
Get out in the silver rain
The sun is shimmering
Awash in change and
Gravity brings it all down
Blue blazing glory and
Speed that has no sound

Where are you going to?
Everyone else is running forward
While you are standing still
Why can’t you keep up when
We all get our fill
Go drown in the silver rain
The road keeps glimmering

What is eating away at you?
Consume
You went through the motions
Of course you always knew
Now there’s nothing left for you
So drink the ocean
Go drink the ocean
And spit it all out

They say
It’s the way of the future
They say
It’s the wave of the future
Silver rain
It’s the way of the future
Silver rain
It’s the wave of the future
Silver rain
It’s the way

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

the colors

Down for a walk by the river
One downtrodden step
In front of another
Off the beaten path
The ground gives out underneath
And brings you to the feet
Of a man you’ve sworn you’d met before
Different from all the others
And the colors
The ones you said you never saw before
But the colors
Are so much brighter now

You’d sold your soul to be young
So why are you surprised to be so old?
Shook the red hand of the man with a million names
A million faces a million shapes
If the deal was real
Why do you feel so used?
At such a steal
You’re one of another million

The colors are euphoric
Thrown right into the flame
Congratulations
Was all the worth it
The room of fools is
Infatuated
With everything you have to offer
Don’t expect any cover
Dancing to death for the clouds of gray
Praying for a rainy day
When hell freezes over

There’s no spades in the corner
What the hell is room temperature
When the colors are getting warmer
Temptation ties your hands up again
The answers failed to explain

© 2009 by Matt Bonham