And the great and good of every country held an assembly

never the like of which had been seen before:

 

Consorts, despots, legitimately voted leaders,

church representatives, tribal gurus,

shamans, every nut and bolt of power gathered there

on a beacon lit hilltop, with no security presence

 

at a propitious time in the calendar decided upon by wise men

in their small unremarkable numbers.

 

Amongst them the capitalists, venturers, speculators,

prisoners as witnesses, scribes for the record.

An agreement was made and sealed with the blood of a cut,

every man - the last blood spilt by human hand,

 

and the world moved on at the banning of all arms

and the means of their deployment

 

whether of mass destructions or single combat,

(excepting hand tools for the provision of simple needs).

Compensation was to be paid to all those thus engaged thereon.

Every man there closed his eyes and thought of a future

 

without the conception of dying for a cause,

without the need for aggression and defence,

 

only a horizon of repair to broken hearts and souls

that rolled back on itself in a haze of remembrance.