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Best Poems Written by Matthew Bailey

Below are the all-time best Matthew Bailey poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Everything I've Ever Lost

In a box full of everything I’ve ever lost, 
The first thing I’d rummage for is the patience that could’ve led me 
To your open arms at any cost 

Slow moving nights, without a trace of day-dreamt advice 
My home away from home you provided, but without a trace of a porch light 
Well I’ll find you but it’ll take so much out of me 
And I’ll hunker down and prepare for the motivation I’ll lose suddenly 
Well I don’t have the time to find everything
and here is where I put myself aside to choose priorities 

But in a box full of everything I’ve ever lost,
The first thing I would scour for
is the opportunity for mental bandages, only a damaged soul could’ve ignored  

And every ring of earth's rotation bringing me to a soured destination 
Of knowing now, that you were the glass that kept us separated
I’m antagonizing fight or flight so we establish who controls this  
My head’s too far in the clouds, I’m blind to where the runway is
And it's getting hard to tell 
of what rejections were the world’s protection 
And what were just sacrifices 

But in a box full of everything I’ve ever lost 
The first and only thing I would gaze for,
Is the paper you riveted with every metaphor  
That would’ve changed my view of you, had I not tossed 

But mistakes are the thorns that bring intimidation to every flower;
Dwelling on them won’t make you more well-rounded 
And it’s about time I started living my life in my own honor 
Cause everything I’ve ever lost, 
Took a nerve laced under skin and numbed the ends 
Before the people pleaser in me attempted to plea with one-sided amends 
That would have led me nowhere, 
With no one to carry me
So in a box full of everything I’ve ever lost,
I’m peering for ashes, post-flame 
From a shifting smile that disintegrates

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Recovery Isn't Just for Addicts

Becoming the prey 
I’m melting away like a 5 foot wick
To show a skeleton of who was once the author
Now the pencil tips break and the pens ink tends to escape 
My eyelids worked overtime as hazard lights, 
Trying to communicate 
That I'm still held captive in this reaction 
But it's okay, 
Cause I could never be the captain anyways 

Taping cardboard wings to exit strategies
And sending them through flaming hoops,
Though it's not the spirit I feel I've captured 
But I tell myself that it's okay,
Cause I could never tame the lion and be the ringmaster anyways

You already disappeared like a missing plane with no debris
There's a chorus of voices in my head 
As painted clusters of imaginary enemies
And sometimes I feel as though your color slips in 
With nothing but recycled oxygen and anxiety to give 
Maybe this time I won't let you touch me during it
I couldn't count these fights with a tally on the wall like a prison cell 
You wanted a battle and you got a war less tangible 
You were diving head first, but I had no access to my arsenal 
And I'd still give my life to you
But it was never mine to give 

And I've always wanted to sing this all out to you
But I'm not Stevie Nicks 
And I refuse to admit that you win 
Even though I wanted it like this 
And you're not one to talk
You already disappeared like a plane, vanished without closure 
You’re the personified version of a unknown number
If I'm endlessly terrified of what you think of me, is that terrorism?
You took a dirty needle and injected a lifes supply 
Of a doctor-complex 
with a degree in misplaced heroism

It's hard not to hear you behind me
With the ground cracking underneath you like glow sticks 
And don't tell me you're too lost to find this 
Just follow my voice like you did before 
And I know you love the role of antagonist
But I really need every confession I can get  
Dressed in tiny little bows and wrapped up like presents 

I wouldn't put it past you to lie in a courtroom 
The stenographer is sweating!
Trying to unpack all these hidden messages you're relaying 
I'm bored, and I'm betting we could get more direct answers
From king tut's tomb 
I wouldn't be surprised to feel you stab me in the back
In a courtroom 

Can I be your exposure therapy?
Can I act so insulted that you feel the need to make it up to me?
I hope you still carry around the blade I bought you just in case 
Handmade and white with purple stains,
I wanted you to finally feel safe
Your therapist is sweating!
Trying to figure out why you're not thinking about me, incandescently

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

I've Got Some Bad Ideas and a Terrible Hill to Die on

How could I exist like this?
Get out of my head and on your knees
For another way to worship 
Don’t wait on me, I haven't conquered anything yet 
My times a soldier with a leaking social battery 
but I've got more danger in the clip than in Chernobyl
And a terrible hill to die on 
If this is how duty calls,
Than I don't wanna be noble
I wanna be something you can't live without 
Oh, but I’m just a scribble in a page of your autobiography
But I know I’d be the whole damn table of contents
But if I already saw the 3-D movie 
Why would I care what the book is about?
How could you exist like this?
Am I something you can't live without?
If our friendship was the town, 
I’d be flood and you’d be the devastating drought 
You're like the people with split personalities
Each one takes a position on the jury 
Where they point the finger at anyone but themselves
And wait for an apology 
My restless mind syndrome 
Keeps calling and stalling for the toxins to invade 
I only hear what I wanna hear 
Were my ears produced?
They seem homemade 
A lone wolf in sheep's clothing 
But it takes two to tango with blame 
And I know who you'd have your arms around 
When the shame sets in and i’m reduced to a short line from your autobiography
But you're my whole acknowledgments page 
You left me waiting for a fleeting answer for years 
Is it a hard truth we refuse to hear or is it building suspense?
Does it overcome you with repentance or paralyze your mouth with fear?
The question isn't how did I exist without it 
It's how did I exist with it at all?
I might be the final nail hit in your coffin 
but you’re just an unpublished table of contents 
Every groove in my brain likes to move forward at the quickest rate
While you’re waving to me, fading away in retrograde 
But it’s too destructive and counter productive
And it lead me right back to the same hill I chose not to die on 
I should've known from the way you saw right through me 
That this reliance was just a con 
And I hate to spoil the ending 
But this sixth sense tells me I’ve been seen through the whole time 
and you’re just pretending 
A lone wolf in sheep's clothing 
with the bite of a great white
You’re a drooling dog with desperate eyes I shouldn’t pet 
A house engulfed in flames that I haven’t retreated from yet
Everything I ever created rests inside 
But I can’t be a hero in my own story and not end up alive 
And to be crystal clear, 
This is something I can live without 
But the question isn’t whether I can or cannot,
It’s will I fight to keep it alive or will I let it degrade into an afterthought?

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Honey, You Can't be a Shark if You're Toothless

You're a fool for starting the friction 
But I'm a fool for starting the motion 
F you, no I’m a fool for believing the notion
And giving my eyes to the intention

The northern lights fell on me 
And open ice sheets make me weary 
I can see every breath but I don’t feel alive 
I can see every breath but I don’t feel so alive 

I need a radio to play this line to me every day:
Never burn yourself 
To keep others warm 
Never burn yourself 
To keep others warm 
 
The truth is 
I wouldn’t wish it on anyone
I wouldn’t wish this on anyone 

When someone pulls a gun on you,
You pull a bigger one 
And when someone tells you to give them a show,
You drop the match on the gasoline and have some fun 

You’re never gonna guess what he said to me
You’re never gonna guess because in a murder case, 
This would be the clue they all disregard
But turns out to be the missing piece 
But everything is evidence when you’re over-analyzing 
Take off your detective hat and enjoy my presence while it lasts 

Broken bones and a heart-shaped cast 
I wouldn’t wish this on anyone 
Military grade, tested against god’s fists
But it wasn’t made to last 
And I already know the grass is greener on the other side 
Every blade is a shard of glass that cuts me everytime I try to forget 
Well I don’t forget! 
And i’ll remember that I wouldn’t wish this on anyone 

But will I remember to never burn myself 
To keep others warm? 
Im tempted to test it but I know I’ll just forget it 

When someone pulls a gun on you,
You pull a bigger one 
And when someone says to blow them away,
You throw the match on the dynamite and have some fun 

Oh, and there’s that shooting star I wished for 
a year and a half before 
That asteroid hurtling towards earth 
Couldn't hit us any sooner 
And who's the son of a  that said the grass is always greener? 
I know I should bring this all to my therapist 
But I’m just gonna forget it

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Weakness Son, it Lives in the Eyes

Feel the fear rushing through your pulse
I'm sure it's nothing like the pain I was forced to endure
I'm sure it's nothing but a misplaced heart beat  
Like what happens when you're lying 
But I'm innocent until proven guilty

I'm sure it's not as bad as I've explained it to be
Some days I think I'm stronger than an ax 
Some days I think I'm weaker than a feather in a tsunami 
And on the days in between I tell a lie out loud in my room 
And try to feel if my heart skips a beat 
Maybe a shield of detection would allow for better self reflection
But I'm always innocent until proven guilty

The veins running up until my finger tips 
I'm convinced, my self control is just a substance
Sometimes it's flowing, other times I've hit a drought 
But it's hard not to cave in 
When everyone around me has made me build a wall of defending impending doubt 
I'm a martyr of loosely spoken factuality 
But yet again, I'm innocent until proven guilty

And some day
I'll realize the skeletons in my closet 
Are just costumes that forgot to hide my face 
And some day
I'll be better than the outlaws that came before me 
That got caught before they could change 

A heartbeat in my arm and in my chest and on my neck
I am seething life but obtaining words is knowing 
And watering the flowers of our minds is growing 
And leading the charge of a change is hoping

And taking steps back isn't always a bad thing 
Backing away from a cliff is prevailing 

I'm sure this worry is nothing but a lost and dampened heartbeat
But either way, lasting through it and seething life, is surviving 

It never mattered if I told a lie 
I’m sure God’s got an eye on me anyways 
I’m a fire-starter in the walls of broken democracy 
But yet again, I’m always innocent until proven guilty

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

One Invention; Industrial Revolution

Into the sunset we’ll ride 
And we’ll see how much you’ve grown 
By the last words you choose to leave behind 

We can pretend that heaven denied you 
because you found your own path 
We can pretend that we all don’t know what’s really going on there 
A novel of lies,
Read it and weep 
Read it and weep 

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride 
And it’s easier to rule with silence than to silence the ruler 
And it’s an easy ride into the sunset when all your bridges are still intact 
And it’s much harder to see the ashes of hell with your head in the clouds 
But it’s so unsurprising to see you comforting yourself with a novel of lies 
You know that if wishes were horses, beggars would ride 

Standing there like a lemon 
Thoughts too sour to protect your tower of porcelain 
Such sweet irony to know you’re crumbling under that mask
A scroll full of ink of your behaviors that could be their own disorders 
Read it and weep 
Read it and weep until you crack 
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had genies in our pockets 
Karma in a bottle, you gotta harness it the right way  
It’s unsurprising you choose spite 
Over learning about yourself 
A nobel prize winner of carefully woven lies 
But you know if wishes were horses, beggars would ride 
Into the sunset, away from the burning ashes of your obvious end of the line

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Saturday Nights Taking Hits Listening to Narco Debut and Thinking of you

Concomitant treatments
And with a medal of honor in pill Russian roulette, 
I’m likely to believe it 

The problem is 
You say everything with confidence 
So I’m likely to believe it 
You already said you think about me when you wake up 
So i’m likely to depend on it
It’s sick and twisted but in all the best ways 
A brush with death you didn’t know that you were looking for 
Attaching heart strings to boulten boards
Leave me alone with my open heart surgery
or leave me something to savor 
The drills on your hands that disguise themselves as fingers,
Are so dangerous to the touch, i’ll have to sign a waiver 
Look at me like that again, and I’ll give you something to sever 
I said we’d wait until tomorrow, but I should’ve known you’re too clever for that  

You must've ripped out my spine 
Cause I haven't fended for myself in months!
You must've ripped out my spine 
Cause I can't muster more than a gesture 
Out of the frayness of my presumptuous throat 
And I'm looking at my notes!
I'm stuck on this puzzle that is the last letter you wrote 

The problem is 
You think about me when you wake up,
You say everything with confidence 
And you're an abundance of cleverness,
So I'm likely to depend on it

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

I'm a Little Masochistic, But Not in the Way you Think

I'd give you the shirt off my back
But only because I'd need you to like me
The eyesore that is your beat up honda in the driveway 
I said I would call but I can see you didn’t believe that

Christmas family gathering but Jesus couldn’t make it 
Cigarette burns on the couch and drawers empty of what would've been a year of savings
He could’ve made it, he didn’t wanna come 
I thought I heard someone say the disfunction makes it fun

The eyesore that is this hotel room 
A pounding headache and a bowl of weed is my best friend right now,
Is my only friend right now
These windows lock for a reason 
And these sheets creep off you for a reason 
Watch the seasons fall as I show the world how long I can stay in one place 

Christmas family gathering but Jesus couldn’t make it
He could’ve made it, he didn’t wanna come 
And why would he?
He didn’t wanna try and avoid the cigarette burns 
and hear the whispers of a ruby necklace she can’t find 
I couldn’t leave,
I couldn’t leave you with that face 
Why would you stay?
I’m taking this one to the grave 

I’ve seen masochists less willing to suffer,  
Waiting to pull shotguns on each other

I’m taking this to the grave 
I’m taking this to the grave and I don’t care 
There’s no morally gray,  
If no one has anything to ponder 

I couldn’t leave,
I couldn’t leave you with that face 
Why would you stay?
I’m taking this one to the grave 

I’ve seen masochists less willing to suffer,  
just waiting to pull shotguns on each other

I couldn’t leave,
I couldn’t leave you with that face 
Why would you stay?
I’m taking this one to the grave 
I’m taking this one to the grave 
Oh, the headache that is your speech of what is morally gray 
I hope you know but you’ll never know
I’m taking this one to the grave

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

Tell Your Dog All Your Secrets

No ones ever even been in an empty room
And now's as good a time as any to tell you this:
I don’t feel regret if it was right for me at the time 
We spend so much of our lives with regret 
It might as well be our husbands and wives 
And no ones ever even been in an empty room
So next time you’re sitting alone,
Remember that your guilt and suppression
Will keep you anything but cold 

When is the time to throw caution to the wind? 
It wasn’t getting you towards justice anyways 
Throw your pennies into streams and caution to the wind
It wasn’t getting you that respect you crave anyways, now was it?

If I had a dollar for every business mogul that disappointed the world
I could retire and live at a resort at 19
Like uncultured moths to a poisoned chalice flame,
Too many corporate pitches with more sham than champagne
Everything’s a scam and it’s better to face this now

Druggies might be liars, but so are lawyers
there isn't much difference
And we all know you get back what you dish out 
Don’t be throwing stones at the working class from a glass house 
Like semi-blossomed moths to a counter-culture flame,
Now’s as good a time as any to tell you:
Our number one issue is not eccentric change 

I’m throwing caution to the wind and verbalizing my hot takes
Every life lost without repercussion is a loss of faith in my eyes 
Rules can be broken and bent
But mirrors don't break, they multiply 
And soon, all you’re gonna see is heartbreak in my eyes 
With more political pyromania than Lord of the Flies;
Like gullible moths to a discreetly anarchical flame 

I don’t feel regret if it was right for me at the time 
We spend so much of our lives with regret 
It might as well be our husbands and wives 
And you can see and feel emptiness 
But heartbreaks lives in all of our eyes

Details | Matthew Bailey Poem

I've met Scarecrows with more Spine than you!

I'm not addicted, so this will be easy
It's a hard truth to hear so I just tune it out 
and I’m arguing with walls 
but I end up letting them fall on me 
“But it can only be as violent as your imagination,”
She said quietly
Well you're still smiling in the mirror
And that tells me failure has a sense of humor 
But put some quality to your consciousness for just a second,
Am I the victim or the detective if I’m asking all the questions?
I'm not addicted, so this will be easy, right?
I'm not here for friends,
I'm here for validation 
A doctorate in consuming your radiation; the only way to become immune
But it all backfired when the friendship bracelets untied
and left a trail of charms, crawling to the corners of the room
Another memento collecting dust 
Along with the oxygen tanks I have stored 
For when you take my breath away 
But now they’re all poised and dressed in rust 
I'm not addicted, so this should be easy 
A single chance to prove to myself that I was right
Screaming in my head that this never should’ve happened 
It never should’ve happened!
But I become a shell of a used battery with no current 
When I try to fight this 
The rulers above me hear fire alarms when I pray for proper punishment 
A single complication that could torment my expectations 
If my bar was any lower for you, it would be caressing gravity’s cheek at the bottom of the ocean 
Like darkness converging towards you at the end of a tunnel
You’re biggest mistake was underestimating me
A sailor who overlooks the water, ends up a skeleton full of stars and coral
I bleed smoke from my ears as the world moves on
And my mouth is a blinking fire alarm 
But it’s silent and the blinding light is only casting in my eyes 
and praying for proper punishment fuels the constant fire 
behind the adrenaline rushes of well-crafted lies 
Injustice digs the grave, 
But you’re the one who lays with mouth and eyelids stitched, readily encased 
She asked me if she had the information, would I want to know?
My skin jumps out of me, and into third person 
Screaming at myself that this never should've happened
This never should’ve happened!!
And so it goes
But I looked at her through a watery blur and told her I don’t want to know 
“It can only be as violent as my imagination”
I said quietly
The ambivalence of the situation is deafening 
And my delusions of how much time is actually passing 
Is forcing me further into survival mode 
where my emergency flashes must be refracting 
Cause I’m the only one seeing this!
And these walls that I keep arguing with 
are the same ones I built around my support system 
and now they’re both collapsing
Am I the only one seeing this?!
Am I the doctor or the patient if I’m asking all the questions?
Am I the hero or the martyr if I’m saving myself from my own deception?
The leader or the enemy if I take accountability?
Self-awareness isn’t always a treasure 
And so it goes 
But I looked at her through a wavy blur 
And told her I just don’t wanna know 
A single detachment to leave my integrity jeopardized 
But I’m not addicted, so this should be easy, right? 
Will this be easy?
It never is, 
But this has to be easy, right?