spinning wheels

we tried to make love
and it came out looking like
one of those abstract sculptures
everybody sees and nobody feels
rusty wire frame and a coupla spinning wheels
rusty wire frame and a coupla spinning wheels

we tried to make history
and it came out looking like a footnote
in a high school textbook on behavioral disorders
to learn more about obsession, put in another quarter

all i'm trying to say is
nothing came out quite like we intended
every bridge collapsed, every road dead-ended
and with each new trainwreck
we grew less and less convinced
we could build anything at all

then we took off our helmets
and looked at each other
i had mud on my forehead
you had dirt in your nails
a couple disengaged warheads
a couple stranded blue whales

we tried to make excuses
but they came out sounding like prayers
so we just knelt down & prayed together
and after the meltdown we laid together
crying 'praise the lord who built the world
and hung the stars by standing on a kitchen chair'
praise the lord who built the world
and hung the stars by standing on a kitchen chair