Hunters in goose down
with NRA views carp about the price of coffee,
dangereous diatribe when fully armed;
graying hipsters,
radical in their elder age
pontificate on the pitfalls of Social Security;
delinquents pitch pennies
into the dark void of night;
matron waitress
keep the young girls in line,
no flirtations while working;
jazz scat cats blow on imaginary instruments
blowing out just gossip.
Short order cooks dish out hash with a flare,
chicken fried unindentified with cream gravy,
fudge cheesecake
with sugary drizzle like a slow, soft rain,
barb wire waffles-bloody sore throat,
microwave nuclear disaster,
radiation intoxicates before it kills.
Some refuse to eat
tattoo comparison-urban mythology revealed,
the defrocked clergy
read from cautionary tales,
rowdy night owls
hoot themselves out before they get started,
irate senior citizens exit on heavy metal walkers
to protest the wait for service,
the owner of the joint
calls for more grease to ease the pain,
the customers continue their diversions.

May 7,1943- scrawled on the back of the photo,
a train full of uniforms, jitterbuggers in skirts
waiting at the station as soldiers, sailors, airmen
disembark at a water stop, interupting troop
movement destned for the Pacific, Europe.
The improvized band jumped into "In the Mood."
The men grab partners and dance fancy steps-
high heels scuff cumbersome combat boots
scooting roughly on planks of the wooden dock
they click clumsy on knotted pine flaws of the floor,
no one knowing who would return after the war
and who will die on distant, foreign battlefields