through the gates

Ten foot white walls of winter’s giving
On the crown of western time
Where there is no stop of progression
And if he should enter through the gates
Is where he must stay
At the request of a season
He stopped to take a photograph of the lakes
Reflection of craggy peaks
One side blue, sunny side white and
Prominence in between gray
Others stand along with him though they are only temporary

© 2010 by Matt Bonham

uncanny valley

I could say
I feel terrible
You could say
That I’m skeptical
I’m not calling you a liar
Just a wordsmith for the truth
Next up in line are
Pseudonyms to choose

You’re not
Much for love
For a robot
The rise before the fall
Symbol of what’s to come
Symbol of us all

I am lost in your love
It feels so real it can’t be
So I leave it up
For you to judge
The words you choose
What you’ve done
Is almost human
Is almost human

No matter the way
The way you look at me
I wonder if you know what’s out there
A look so simple
It’s all subjective
From your perspective
Uncanny valley
Is there something
You’re not telling me

No matter the way
The way you look at me
What you say
All I want
I wonder if you even know what’s inside
You look so simple
To be so in between
Is there something
I might be missing

I am lost in your love
It feels so real it can’t be
So I leave it up
For you to judge
The words you choose
What you’ve done
Is almost human
Is almost human


© 2010 by Matt Bonham

chemical politicians

Driving across the edge of two

Getting to

Where we start anew

Tracing steps

Retrace your steps

Replace your bets

The masochist

The masochist in you

You tied my hands

To your brand new plan

An imbalance

Chemical politicians

And those who listen

To them

Take me up high

To see the stars

Don’t ask me why

We’ll never get that far

Master of the arts

Of deception

Now smile for the cameras

Chemical politicians

And those who listen

To them

The words you speak

Tongue-twisting

Why am I even listening?

You’re overreacting

You’re overreacting

You’re overreacting

You’re overreacting

© 2010 by Matt Bonham

home so early

Just this morning

The sky went black

Without warning

The slipping slack

Practice makes perfect

For something that I lack

Not worth the worry

I’m not going back

Home so early

Bags already packed

I’m not ready

To turn my back

I can read your lips

Caught in the trap

You can see my tricks

Fall through the cracks

Home so early

Bags already packed

I’m not ready

To turn my back

You thought you had me

When you trailed the tracks

Though I’m not ready

To turn my back

© 2010 by Matt Bonham

at the end of the

Start stop

So hard to hold on

When I’m falling off

Why am I even talking?

When you’ve seen it all

Self-control

Is it self-control?

Haven’t you had enough?

First to the front of the line

Forgiven

Last to the back of the line

You jump

Stop start

Sticky fingers

Every word that lingers

Heavy on which you speak

Hangs like the plague on me

On the other hand

When have you gone wrong

On a band

That led to our song

All along

When you’re alone

Let me know

Where you want to go

And this world spins
And this world spins
And this world spins

At the end of the end

At the end of the end

At the end of the end

At the end of the

© 2010 by Matt Bonham

whitecaps

At last

You speak to me in silence

An hour past

Punctuated in darkness

Holding fast

Holding fast

The breakers

They take us both apart

Repeat the process

Back to the start

Back to the start

All I hear is a whisper

All I feel is a crash

Rock me to sleep

Rock me to sleep

All I hear is a whisper

All I feel is a crash

Rock me to sleep

Rock me to sleep

The whitecaps break on top of everything

Then collapse

Wrap me in wavelength

Sent up from the deep

Roll the dice with the devil

Forever I’m trying

To send a message to Heaven

The breakers

They take us apart

Underneath the surface

Back to the dark

Back to the dark

All I hear is a whisper

All I feel is a crash

Rock me to sleep

Rock me to sleep

All I hear is a whisper

All I feel is a crash

Rock me to sleep

Rock me to sleep

The whitecaps break over everything

And collapse

 (c) 2009 by Matt Bonham

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

worldview

In this world
Tonight a boy cannot sleep
Throws away his dreams
Down the light bending at the cracks
Nightmares are the new black
Along the shiver cold of what we’ve known
Hangs a worldview
From a storefront window
It swings out in the breeze
As the brass doorbell rings

The boy walks in
Eyes innocent and new
The storekeeper begins
Come on in
Do what you want to do
Innocent sins are rinsed
And have I a worldview for you
Right here
Place all your change on the counter
And just lend me your ear

Our willingness to comply
Is broken by our promises to lie
Black wings marked with a stripe of white
Oh but we are so very much alive

Feed the disease
To discover the remedy
Drink from the fountain of youth
All you want to
To the victor goes the spoils
Suffer all the fools
There sleeps the king
Wrapped in his crown of tin foil
Pastel flags fly from crumbling castles
All is not well in the kingdom tonight

Dewdrops and fish eye lens
Provide my wide angle view of the world
On which we depend

Down into the worldview
Wait for me on the mountain
I will hold for you
When the seas rise to the peaks
Why don’t you
Try to find me
The worldview
Plastered right in front of you
I see past what you only think I read
We write the future
When we copy from the past
Faster and faster the ships sinks

When we crowd the mast
Vision is clearer behind the glass

(c) 2009 by Matt Bonham

anywhere but here (poppy radio song)

Today was long; I’ll go ahead and say
The same is in store for tomorrow
Although it’s sometimes been
A long and winding road
This blue collar’s wearing thin
And your job taking calls on the phone
Give me a clue and I’ll take the hint
We’ve got no place left to go

Our life is nothing for the evening news
Everyone’s been asking questions
And rumors are the lies of truth

The road is open
So you can close your eyes
No more lies and no more secrets
On our own we can try to make it
Anywhere but here

We don’t need this place
To drive us down
The weight of the world’s enough
To give us both a push
With or against the wind
Today or tomorrow, I don’t care when

The road is open
So go ahead and close your eyes
No more lies and no more secrets
We can try to make it on our own
Don’t need anyone but the two of us
Just tell me where you want to go
Anywhere but here

I know this life can be frustrating
And this old town can drag you down
Pack our bags, don’t make a destination
We’ll find ourselves along the way
Give this trip an exclamation
We’ve got all the time to waste
Let’s leave the map behind
We’ll take a permanent vacation

The road is open
So go ahead and rest your eyes
Shut the door
We’ll drive to daylight
And see what the world’s got in store

Wherever you choose
I won’t shed a tear
We’ve got everything but nothing to lose
Anywhere but here
Watch it all go by
Anywhere but here
Just leave this place behind

(c) 2009 by Matt Bonham

she will

She waits
Time stops for miles and
She stays still
While she swallows the pill

She says she will
Devil you do and
That I can’t define
Fly by night sideshow
First and foremost
That I can’t deny

Harlequin
Will you let me in
Hypnotize
You give it away with the look in your eyes

Stay still
I hear them coming
Around the corner
You ride out the weather
To think you’re better
Switching spots and
I’m catching on
You pull your hoodwink down
To lull the good from all around

Interrelated
None of the above
You loved hate
You hated love
Fly free now white dove
In spite of both of us
Trust was your white space

Chemical
Windowsill
The mantle of pills
Close the deal
Stay still
Play along
She says she will

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

real

Your existence is only so real
Curled up on the cusp of what I feel
Punch your clock and seal the deal
One more week to have your meal
Trapped in orbit without a care
This world is only as real as it seems
I strain to scream in my nightmares
I forget to remember all my dreams
Oh no
Here we go
From the bowels of sleep
You have no warrant to wake me
So please just let me be

I grab the stream of thought with all my might
In spite of indifference and all that’s right
You take a sideline seat for the night
Take heed we don’t have long
A turnstile for the numbers
That have come and gone
A hand to hold the light

There is only so much
My eyes can see
That my grasp can touch
Senses of what used to be

Walk over sheets of glass
Try your luck on water
For what its worth
Only eternity lasts forever
Nevermore

Squeals of the tire
The last black spot on the map
Peals of laughter
We’ll be getting back to that
Soon after

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

eyes

Through your bedroom eyes
I’m not sure what you were going for
I’m not sure what you meant
Throwing your look this way
Your eyes took innocent
Yet devious
Deviated circles
Clean out the lack of sleep from your eyes
In the closet of your mind

Thrown it all away
Haven’t collected what was mine
You would look this way
Once upon a time
You gave me all you
With your eyes

The way you talk to me
The ways your eyes hide
A dream world behind
Masking the light
Of a heart so bright
In a city where
I can no longer see

Your bedroom eyes
Light the path for a thousand miles
From this view a train track
And bricks stacked on bricks
In a place so free
We still have to pay
For as far as the eye cannot see
There’s just no other way
Love and objects
All else dies
Love and objects
We shall rise
Look to the future
With our own eyes

The eyes have it
They will let you in
And turn you away
Never again

I cant close your eyes
I cant make you smile

(c) 2009 by Matt Bonham

changing the english channel

I don’t know where you were coming from
And I could care less where you expect to be
You spent your time
Kept me hanging from a line
Exchanging your currency
It’s not like our love was
Changing the industry

The wayward wanderer
On to bigger and better things
I guess there’s reason to every rhyme
You don’t need to pull the string
Reaching out to mine
There’s no static in the frequency
I can hear you fine

If you were truly this unhappy
You failed to let me know
You left your mark on me
Scratched right into my back
From the night before
While you were on your back
Sprawled across the floor

After us
The morning came
You express shipped your clothes
Slipped out the door
And went on your expatriated way

If only we forgot where we were headed
We’d get lost along the way
Though I suppose
I’ve got all the time in the world for detours
So I’ll see you sometime later on today
For you forgot your passport

As for finding your destination
I believe you will succeed
You’ll find yourself
Back at the point
You started from
Somewhere in between

You’re somewhere above the clouds
While I’m down here with all the doubts in sway
London Bridge is falling down
Underneath the weight

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

king of something

Jack of all the trades
Don’t call me any master
That’s the prince of paupers
My queen of disaster
And I’m the king of something
But I can’t put my finger on what that thing is

I’m not your demigod
Maybe they’ll realize that
When I’m dead and gone
A crown of cardboard
I rule with a fist
That I found at the dollar store

Tried and true
I don’t know if I’m the man for you
Water doesn’t freeze through my veins
And my posture doesn’t fit the position
For the moment I’ll listen
Shrug the attention and
The weight from off my shoulders
Rock and roll with the queen
Just to ease the tension

Have I mentioned
That I have to go
Back to the place
That I call my own
That’s what you get when
You rent the castle
And lease the kingdom

Yeah I’m the king of something
I don’t know what that something is
The world isn’t mine oh mine
And the clock doesn’t stop
When it’s on my time

© 2009 by Matt Bonham

arizona

I knew it was you
When I got the midnight call
False alarm
Down to where you’d gone
Across the ragged map
To where you called home

When peace is at a premium
There’s always a war
That can be started
And Arizona is for
The girls that couldn’t cut it in California

Coach call in a pinch hitter
I’ll sit this one out
And collect my thoughts
I haven’t solved the problem yet

The sweetness of your secrets
Sweet tests of your innocence
Searching through this crime scene
Everything to little pieces
Left high and out of reach

When I’ve used up the time that I’ve been given
Till I’m down to my last breath
And collected all the thoughts
Bottle up all my doubts
Save them for when the world is silent
Then scream at the top of my lungs

Can you hear me out there
Long past the point of truth
Can you get me out of here
And Arizona was made for you

© 2009 by Matt Bonham