The Terms of Peace

A king was bored with jesters and galas and grovelers

and decided to wage war on Thursday after eggs for breakfast

his afternoon equestrian lesson and massage and a nap

And so he rounded up his 10,000 warriors and their armaments

and they marched and trotted out to the field of blood

and blew the horns and fired the warning shots and waited

Soon the neighbor king’s army precision marched over the hill

they looked to be double the size, robust and fiery

their swords were hardened and their trebuchets tall

So the bored king sent a message and asked with kingly manners

the terms for peace and the way back to the royal routine

and the other king with his warriors in full display commanded

you should have counted the cost of war before bugling

the price of peace is your complete surrender to me

give up your weapons and shields and machines and pride

So Jesus with your foolish king, costly war parable, what are

the terms of peace with you, or are there none except surrender

and you will cajole us into following no matter our resistance to courage

else we be left in our torpor thrones and remote controls

wondering why we were born slight and why we will die forgotten

and daydream about the greater good that might have been