The good guys won
(because the good guys always win.
If they didn’t
then the other guys
would have been the good guys all along).

The good guys won
and they dictated the terms
included the simple fact
that they won
and by how much
and they told the bad guys
to feel bad about losing
which, believe me,
they did.

Then the good guys
asked for money
and accused the bad guys
of crimes against nature
and humanity
and good taste
and the bad guys shrugged
and said, “You got us!”
(because what else could they really say
or do
or be?)

So the good guys got to be smug
and wealthier
and the bad guys got to act guilty
and beaten
but didn’t really feel too bad
since they knew
that if they’d been the good guys,
they’d do the same thing, too.

The good guys went about their business
and so did the bad
and they all thought
about the next time
and all lived ever after
– but not happily.

Happiness
never entered the equation.