the moon and mars

close enough by Alistair Chong

places we don't want to go
feel like prison bars
rather float through space
and build a life on mars
this place has too much gravity
too strong a hold on me

north

eyes high by Alistair Chong

clouds leave
and no one notices
with godspeed
we'd never know it
there'll always be something
above our heads
who knows if they're watching
all we know is light they shed

mat

birds and city lines by Alistair Chong

following patterns in the sky
birds flying through city life
lining clouds and riding sunshine
all in the name of life

used

always numbers by Alistair Chong

in the night
shadows echo in the dark
a deafening sound
for tonight
no one to share my heart
only space all around
a thousand numbers
not a single call
waiting by the phone
a tree starting to crumble
not heard at all
the forest stands alone.

new deep

shallow end by Alistair Chong

don't the oceans make you wonder
how small you really are
they used to but now
i'm past guessing how long or far
skyscrapers reaching high
expand in to the open sky
used to be the feat of man
now all i want is to play a hand
i used to swim lane after lane
underwater my thoughts would play
until i realised i was past again and again
all i want is the shallow end

so over

very confused by Alistair Chong

see the sight
of a world you find alive
living air is all around
life crawling overground
sunshine can do that.

not even aware

between two worlds by Alistair Chong

no way to deny
this sleep so deprived
head on a desk
hoping i go unchecked
sometimes i don't like
the way things have changed
but still sun stays high
she's always the same

usually

some to remember by Alistair Chong

i've got dreams
broken up dreams
one second smiling in my sleep
next blood on fabricated streets
i've got dreams
twisted from sanity
mind drifting through sunshine
'til fire in the clouds sets hell to white
i've got dreams
tearing whats left of me
clifftop views seeming heaven sent
turn into free fall to my death

well soon

some other day by Alistair Chong

so beyond
what you can bother feeling
that the worst
won't phase this slow descent
into gravity

made for one

just for you by Alistair Chong

a song that makes you close your eyes
go inside yourself
and search for that deep down place
corners of your heart begin to cry
drowning in the sound
surrounded in a more than silent space

listening to a piano interlude
every little connection
finds their own soft spot
and it finally gets to you
music is perfection
this was always your song

what it was

realisations by Alistair Chong

nothing doing what it does
letting time die in dust
nothing more than a second in the past
never took it for all it was

another breath
another beat
still alive

writing without a meaning
not alive but still breathing
i've got to make the most
before moments are tomorrow

another breath
another beat
still alive

singing with no melody
writing without security
my whole life i've thrown away
any use there was for yesterday

another breath
another beat
still alive

the end
is just behind
but i'll run across the earth
to reach it from the other side

vide

six car by Alistair Chong

stumbling through the doorway
half stuck on the freeway
tires blowing out
but still doing 80 miles

and there's no emergency lane

silence in the shower
music of running water
blood from a six car pile up
won't wash fast enough

and scars aren't falling down the drain

vacant minded bed
slow-mo through my head
always was ending in
two broken conclusions

find a how to wish it all away

to turn around
or turn my back


Another Kind of Green by John Mayer

Sara's friend she lost her mind
She left him and made it look sexy now
I fear you won't be far behind
Thinking I'll be the next to leave
I know I might be anxious
But I'm still not crazy

And I don't need another kind of green to know I'm on the right side with you

I used to be the one you saw
When crying alone to sad songs
But then we go and we hit the wall
When nothing has changed and nothing's wrong
You're not the perfect hand
But I don't hit on nineteen

And I don't need another kind of green to know
I'm on the right side
I'm on the right side with you
With you

So go and drift away from me
Adopt some new philosophy
That doesn't hold the two of us in mind
Move into someone else's place
Stare into some other's eyes
But slowly only come to realize

That you didn't need another kind of green to know
I'm on the right side
You're on the right side
I'm on the right side with you
Oh, I was on the right side
You don't need to lose to know that you had it good
You don't need to lose it to know that you had it good
You don't need to lose it to know that you had it
Know that you had it
Know that you had it
Don't need to lose it to know that you had it good

so draw the curtains

can't catch it today by Alistair Chong

U2 says it's a beautiful day
but it's getting away
teach me how to hold onto sunshine
i was never taught
such a shame
can't stop her escape
into the rest of time
for never to be caught

Funny the Way It Is by Dave Matthews Band

Lying in the park on a beautiful day
Sunshine in the grass and the children play
Sirens passing, fire engine red
Someone's house is burning down on a day like this
And evening comes, and we're hanging out
On the front step and a car goes by with the windows rolled down
And that war song is playing, "Why can't we be friends"
Someone is screaming crying in the apartment upstairs

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
Somebody's going hungry, someone else is eating out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
Somebody's heart is broken, it becomes your favorite song

The way your mouth feels in your lover's kiss
Like a pretty bird on a breeze, or water to a fish
The bomb blast brings the building crashing to the floor
Hear the laughter while the children play war

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
One kid walks 10 miles to school, another's dropping out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
On a soldier's last breath, his baby's being born

Standing on a bridge, watch the water passing underneath
It must have been much harder when there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small, compared to how it used to be
With mountains and oceans and winters and rivers and stars

Watch the sky, the jet plane so far out of my reach
Is there someone up there looking down on me
Boy chase a bird, so close but every time
He'll never catch her, but he can't stop trying

Funny the way it is, if you think about it
One kid walks 10 miles to school, another's dropping out
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
On a soldier's last breath, his baby's being born
Funny the way it is, not right or wrong
Somebody's broken heart become your favorite song
Funny the way it is, if you think about it
One kid walks 10 miles to school, another's dropping out

Standing on a bridge, watch the water passing underneath
It must have been much harder when there was no bridge, just water
Now the world is small, compared to how it used to be
With mountains and oceans and winters and rivers and stars

one goes in still

tonight i won't by Alistair Chong

days can start getting long
become not so right
always trying to find
light to start the day
on mornings
from a black and white film
and by the end
there's a feeling
that maybe i can't
live up to where i'm supposed to be
that's why not

Dive In by Dave Matthews Band

I saw a man on the side of the road
With a sign that read 'will work for food'
Tried to look busy, 'til the light turned green

I saw a bear on TV and his friends were all drowning
'Cause their homes were turning to water

A strange kinda sad big old bear
Surely would happily eat me
He'd tear me to pieces that bear

Wake up sleepy head
I think the sun's a little brighter today
Smile and watch the icicles melt away and see the water rising
Summer's here to stay, and all those summer games will last forever
Go down to the shore, kick off your shoes, dive in the empty ocean.

Tell me everything will be OK
If I just stay on my knees and keep praying
Believing in something
Tell me everything is all taken care of
By those qualified to take care of it all

Wake up sleepy head
I think the sun's a little brighter today
Smile and watch the icicles melt away and see the waters rising
Summer's here to stay, and that sweet summer breeze will blow forever
Go down to the shore, kick off your shoes, dive in the empty ocean

One day, do you think we'll wake up
In a world on it's way to getting better?
And if so can you tell me how?

I have been thinking that lately the blood is increasing
The tourniquet's not keeping hold in spite of our twisting
Though we would like to believe we are
We are not in control
Though we would love to believe

Wake up sleepy head
I think the sun's a little brighter today
Smile and watch the icicles melt away and see the water rising
Summer's here to stay, and those sweet summer girls will dance forever
Go down to the shore, kick off your shoes, dive in the empty ocean.

field

not so high but dry by Alistair Chong

feels like
there's nothing left for me here
no reaction
thought i'd
find a touch or a feeling
but nothing's catching on

on a dry river bed
nowhere to go
but dig the dirt
for a trickle

different names

serve by Alistair Chong

four they make
sound into one
a sea of colour
and light
through this dreamland
composers created

New Deep by John Mayer

I'm so alive
I'm so enlightened
I can barely survive
A night in my mind
I've got a plan
I'm gonna find out just how boring I am
And have a good time

'Cause ever since I tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It's been fine
I've been cool
With my new golden rule

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap it's been

Is there a God?
Why is He waiting?
Don't you think of it odd
When he knows my address?
And look at the stars
Don't they remind you just how feeble we are?
Well it used to, I guess

'Cause ever since I tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It's been fine
I've been cool
With my new golden rule

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap
It's been

I'm a new man
I wear a new cologne and
You wouldn't know me if your eyes were closed
I know what you'll say
'This won't last longer than the rest of the day'
But you're wrong this time

Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
I'm over the analyzing
Tonight

Stop trying to figure it out
Deep will only bring you down
You know, I used to be the back porch poet with a book of rhymes
Always open knowing all the time I'm probably
Never gonna find the perfect rhyme
For 'heavier things'

returning

which half by Alistair Chong

breathing deep dark waters
into my veins
and listening to shouts on the field
getting into the play
that's how we do
what we do best
getting it down through
to the other end

final half

last returns by Alistair Chong

coming back
is not so bad
only when you start to slow
does it start to crack
but now
is the beginning of the end
home straight coming
time just please appear ahead

already?

end for a while by Alistair Chong

the 24 last hours
before freedom is gone
hardly took a chance to make the most
of what i had going on
and now a heavy sigh
tomorrow breaks my head space
back to the same old dry
prison windows, same old place
serving sentence for a term again
before breaking my mind
seeing how far sanity bends
under oil far gone past midnight
oh God.

at this table

back in time by Alistair Chong

generations at the table
time capsule from back then
dug up from the dirt it filled
looking back upon what we've spent
the sweat in their eyes have shown
story told in aging lines
to uphold their own
without back beaten lives
and for you i say
i love you

as usual

build up broken by Alistair Chong

i open my eyes and close them again
groan and turn in bed
today's not a good day
gonna beat me down
from where it left last night
only found sleep hundredth time round

crashing through earth
faster than gravity could
nothing there inside to hurt
voices swear it should

in cold sunrise feet hit the floor
dragged to the bedroom door
just before i open it today
deep breath and under i'll go
hope it doesn't drown my sight
world interested while i hit new lows

crashing through earth
faster than gravity could
nothing there inside to hurt
voices swear it should

stuck

backward by Alistair Chong

you've found a time
when gears won't change
backwards for what you think
will be always
back through brick walls
again and again
praying for a stall
desperate for the engine's death
sometimes we all get stuck
in reverse

wasting it

all and none by Alistair Chong

arms are moving
oh they are
second by second
never losing out
not by far
in time imprisoned
and before i know
eight to nine, nine to ten
all i've done
fallen in shadow
of a broken pen
wasting words for none

no breaking

over and by Alistair Chong

still i'm in this circle
no exit signs to follow
passing the same points
every time
even this time round

through a window

sunshine dream by Alistair Chong

content
finding contentment day to day
washing wishes i used to have
into a sunny day daze
having morning dreams
content
to lie
being me

going to wake

changes by Alistair Chong

hard to say
where things are standing
continual shifts around my room
shadows play their game
and in the dark begin evading
pulling searching my mind through
hard to say
where things are standing

buildings

over, under never through by Alistair Chong

glassy sunday
just passing right over
no change to this one way
that's lasting much slower
words they'll blur
sounds they're gone
into a shade of purple
losing shimmer they usually wore

high after

ever down by Alistair Chong

wind falling down a mountain
"give me the deep"
echoes screeching off cliff faces
through dead valleys it sweeps
ever down
ever down

stars crashing through the sky
falling glory in a moment
blazing into a broken death
hallelujah's mask is blown
ever down
ever down

fox

transformed by Alistair Chong

on a screen
machines transform
from not so humble disguises
they only seem
their man made form
to avoid human devices
they war
in stone and sand
and amidst all
she's still standing

you're in

fete by Alistair Chong

lights music dance
friends words and laughter
all getting the chance
to come together
we're having a good time
life living it out fine

pretty cold

chills by Alistair Chong

in the middle of winter
ice fills my breath
solar comfort lingers
just that little less

in the middle of winter
appreciation grows
for fireplace nostalgia
and rooftopped snow

in the middle of winter
in the middle of the night
in the middle
where i lie