When the surrender came
so many were surprised
that they had even
been at war

that the mandatory celebrations
sounded like thousands of shuffling feet
moving in a continent-wide circle

while bonfires burned
in our towns and cities
and people murmured
their shock at what had just happened.

Meanwhile others shrugged
and hid their well-used weapons
in places near at hand,

experience having taught them
the meaning of the red dots
visible beyond the light of those fires,
reflected also in

the glint
of white fangs
in the dark.