The ballad of Cabbages

Verse I

The mountain keeps no count of men,

The river keeps no score.

The road forgets the weary foot

That passed the day before.

But every dawn remembers me—

My wheels, my humble trade.

A cart of little emerald moons,

In woven baskets laid.

The tea man pours. The children laugh.

The sparrows steal their share.

I bow to every kindly face...

Until fate finds me there.

Chorus

My cabbages!

The sky has claimed them all.

Like green leaves in an autumn wind,

They answer chaos' call.

My cabbages!

Roll laughing through the street.

The world may break my wooden cart—

Tomorrow I shall meet...

...the sunrise with another seed.

Verse II

I've watched the Dragon of the West

Sip tea without a word.

I've seen the monks ride laughing winds

Like every tale I've heard.

The mighty bend the sea and stone.

The wise command the flame.

I only know the patient art

Of learning every name—

Of every leaf that drinks the rain,

Of every root below.

The earth gives twice to those who wait,

And twice to those let go.

Chorus

My cabbages!

The spirits love their game.

If fortune writes with heavy hands,

I'll sign beneath my name.

My cabbages!

Go dancing through the square.

For every one the world has claimed,

I'll grow another there.

Bridge

Perhaps the moon is laughing.

Perhaps the Badgermoles below

Shake with silent mirth.

Perhaps the painted spirits tell

This story round the earth.

"There walks the man who never cursed

The road beneath his feet.

He only gathered broken dreams

And planted them to eat."

Final Chorus

My cabbages!

You've wandered far from me.

To palace wall, to mountain pass,

To every winding sea.

My cabbages!

Go where the four winds roam.

The Earth will always lend me more...

...and every road leads home.