I get the battle for
the center self
open hearted
unarmored
awake: how
it all started
but still
why must we
battle so
and don't these
cages
rattle though?
I keep on getting
up and
fighting on
but it doesn't feel
like victory
or like I'm writing wrong
Centralia
I'm in the middle of something
for sure
I got to tell you
the last few
are about all I can endure
Your history looks
fascinating
storied picturesque
but I by god
must break the metaphor
and desperately
escape this desk
Some spikes go
right down
through the
center
I should be
learning
something but
it's so hard
to hear
over the
roaring,
the burning
the creak
of sinews bone
and muscles
that suddenly
speak
After everything I’ve relegated
everything I revelated
masquerading as a Straight John
Yeah no man I moved a ton
of oddly scripted scraps of rhyme
of thoughts from some scrapped paradigm
absolved of rhetoric and context
whoa this is your brain on text
observed and sung becomes a bliss
that circles and resolves like this
observe the center that does hold
the thing remains: the story told
Too close to the center And sensing the eccentric Wobble in the orbit and the consequence concentric if I ever get a chance to brace the bastard to his face you better bet I’m gonna chase the signal to its trace I’ve got proximity I’ve got extension I’ve got a handle on at least one dimension I got answers I’ve got a wicked taste to repent in sumptuous leisure what I set to work in haste
With a stutter of
images and sound
look at what our little
homegrown empire’s
brought around
So many doorways
I thought I could not enter
thanks for the memos
that arrived
from off center
barely remember
anything all that
specific
that came down from
all points East and
West of the Pacific
just one of many
gifts that broadened
my horizon
every sketch that
came alive for
me to put my
eyes on
The failure occurs at the
depth of longing
consumerism
demystified
belonging
is a good enough
answer for
the way of everything
and boredom makes
it cool and
fall apart as much as
anything
Failure at depth
at psi
failure at the center
at the crisis
at the eye
but for my part
I’ve bought it
and deserve a break
Up until I get up
to this plow I’m gonna make
The cracks go all the way to the center of the sphere to where the molten gyroscopic magnet lurks it’s not built to run forever ain’t you heard? Long dead you’ll be long dead I’ll be I’ll bet you any amount of money we won’t be back by 2283 put your money down on put your money down on the long division that drops all the way to the center of the sphere it won’t spin forever ain’t you heard what you new here?
Experience runs backwards and forth I’ll drive it West by North by North The Past every distorted by memories’ lies The future always dazzled by the sun in your eyes Stranded in the now I must navigate both ways Janus faced Odysseus steer blindly through the haze stuff my ears with wax and lead and lash me to the wheel deep down I want to hear their song to find out how I’ll feel Poised thus in the center and revolving on a pin I’m sure that you’ll agree I’m an uncommon specimen I haven’t got an ounce of proof I’ll ever pull it off but as long as I am standing do it better or don’t scoff I spend far too much time up late pacing forth and back Pondering the way forward this glacial slow attack always say that day is over ready once again nothing’s ever over nothing ever starts or ends what
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
