@Hardee's in Portsmouth

(NOTE: The piece below was written originally on a yellow post-it note by yours truly who happened to be dining out @ Hardee's in Portsmouth, Tuesday, 24 Sep 2013 @0855. I snapped a number photos (which basically reflected on what I've described below) while having breakfast. I'll see if I can embed them here with this piece.)

@Hardee's in Portsmouth, On a Fall Tuesday Morning

On a Fall Tuesday morning

@Hardee's in Portsmouth

there's laughter heard

in one corner

where an older couple sat 

as they're enjoying their coffee

and breakfast platter, I guess
(I got one, too, with cinnamon-raisin biscuit and coffee.)

Majority of the diners, I see, today
(with exception to one or two old black men)

they're mostly white old couples
I believe they're retirees

senior citizens, they say,

already in their golden years.

Now on another table

sat quietly another white couple

eating their egg-bacon sandwiches

while I'm jotting down these lines
on an adjacent table, alone

nibbling, enjoying every bite

of my cinnamon-raisin biscuit

made from scratch, they say.

Then one white woman stood up

from her dining table

to dump her trash

in a designated area

next to another table

this white old couple

facing each other

I can tell, they're done

dining, now lounging.

Once in a while,

there's this look,

a meaningful stare

of the old man facing me...

it's that suspicious look

one that's interpretative

one that can be misinterpreted

but wait, his white spouse

turned her head around

and saw me...

and then our eyes met

"Good morning," she said

smilingly, as she got up 

from their table...

I smiled, too, reciprocating

"Good morning."

What a change of mood,

what a change of atmosphere!

I felt good and contented,

"Thank God," I thought...

Well, on the other hand, what is it

that senior citizens stoop down

a lot nowadays

now that they're aged and old 

but still active and able

and capable?

They're looking down

with anxious, serious faces

(not many of them smiling anymore)

while other younger diners

when they come in to the restaurant

they look up or straight

and they always seem preoccupied,

in haste, in a hurry, with no time 

for them to waste...

why is this?

Ah, nevertheless, there's peace

and order and civility and camaraderie

@Hardee's in Portsmouth

on this Fall Tuesday morning

there's that fellowship

there's that sense 

of serenity 

freedom and independence

among diners there...

though it's a reality

to each his/her own

that's what I see-witness

as an immigrant-turned U.S. citizen

who served in and retired from the military.

Copyright 2013 by Chris A. Quilpa