**[Verse 1]** *«Diocletian!»* — they cried at my gate *«Rome needs your hand, it cannot wait»* I wiped the soil from underneath my nail And pointed where the green leaves sail *Otium… otium…* The earth don't care for purple or for gold It only asks if seeds you've sown take hold **[Chorus]** My crown is cabbage, wide and deep green No laurel wreath, no emperor's dream *Palma non sine pulvere* — but my dust is clean This garden breathes where power once had been Yeah… my crown is cabbage… and I'm free… **[Verse 2]** *«Diocletian!»* — the messenger knelt low *«The legions march with nowhere left to go»* I broke a leaf and let the juice run down *«Ecce regnum meum»* — «Behold my crown» Each curly leaf a throne without a chain Each root a truth the palace could not feign While Caesar fights for shadows on the wall My cabbages stand tall… and never fall… **[Chorus]** My crown is cabbage, wide and deep green No laurel wreath, no emperor's dream *Palma non sine pulvere* — but my dust is clean This garden breathes where power once had been Yeah… my crown is cabbage… and I'm free… **[Bridge]** *Sic transit gloria…* Marble cracks but soil stays true Legions fade like morning dew They built their names in stone and blood I built my peace in leaf and mud *Vale, Roma…* Hello, my brassica… **[Outro]** *«Diocletian…»* (echo fades) *«…ian…»* My hands know earth… not sword… My name… forgotten… My cabbages… adored… *Otium…* [mellow fade with nyabinghi heartbeat drums and distant birds]
