A Very Waffle House Valentine's Day

On Learning Waffle House Will Offer Candlelit Dinners on
Valentine’s Day

Really, we should all go
because worse—we could do worse.

But more than that: the Waffle House is open.
It’s so open that when no one there answers the phone
the Feds know the entire region is in big trouble—

the power out,
homes bisected uncleanly by fallen trees,
an acute need of bottled water
and the National Guard.

The Waffle House is open.
It’s open to 19-year-old Britany
who fled the Ozarks
on account of boyfriend Jason’s
association with the meth trade.
Britany works the night shift
at Waffle House #925
at Orange Beach
on the Alabama coast,

It’s open to 49-year-old Frank,
who was a successful oral surgeon
and family man in Omaha
until the dominoes fell
after his wife discovered
a video on his phone that,
since Valentine’s Day is near,
perhaps it would be best not to describe.

It’s open to Eileen,
married and divorced five times
who tried to hide it from Jesus
who told her

for you have had five husbands
and the one whom you now have
is not your husband

and it’s open to you
and your beloved

go for Valentine’s dinner
but order breakfast

a waffle infused with something—
bacon, maybe