2 : 4/12/98 : The Center

I looked up and saw the lathe of heaven spinning in the sky
I looked down and saw my feet three inches past the edge of night
Far out past the furthest reach of distances the mind can hold
No push no pull no dark no light no weight no heat no cold

And the Center will not hold tonight
And I cannot be bold tonight
The center will not hold out any longer
And it's cold out but I'm stronger
Than I've ever been before

I looked back behind and saw that time is just a filing case
I looked in the mirror and saw the same old unfamiliar face
Resemblance is uncanny but I'm not a man who knows his place
The center is unearthly and it vanishes without a trace

And the lathe is spinning past control
And I am just another troll
Three billygoats won't pay the toll on this bridge
Always leaping for the next ridge
Always something past the known

It makes so little sense to ponder distances far past the point
where distance loses meaning where extension's just another joint
But if I cannot fix the spindle where it all is hinged and hung
And if the center will not hold how will I know my song is sung

The Center cannot hold tonight
And I cannot be bold tonight
The center cannot hold against a tide of flux
A thousand reaching minds in flux
All shaping something stranger than before

You can read an explanation of the origin of these lyrics here