LEDGER'S LAST PAGE
The frost is a-creepin' on the window pane Turning the dust into a silver stain I’ve walked the ridges and I’ve wove the oak I’ve lived my life in the mountain smoke The ledger is full and the ink is dry Under the lid of a winter sky.
I got my water through the charcoal bed I got the North Star inside my head The trip-pole lathe is a-quiet now Beside the hammer and the rusted plow I carved the bone and I dipped the light To keep me company through the long-haul night.
Oh, the mountain gives and the mountain takes In every heart-beat and the breath it makes I’ve learned the secrets of the rock and the tree And that’s enough of a world for me Just a lonesome man in a lonesome shack With no reason for to be lookin' back.
The filter’s clean. The hook is set. The candle’s burnt... But I ain't done yet. Just restin' my bones 'til the spring-thaw comes.
So I’ll bank the fire with a hickory log And listen to the silence in the valley fog The tools are ready and the shelf is deep With all the promises a man can keep I’ll lay my head on a cedar floor And let the winter wind howl at the door.
That’s the end of the book. Goodnight, mountain.