Recipe for My Valentine’s Day Lunch Special
Dorothy Chan
He tells me his birthday is on Valentine’s Day,
and I think it’s some kind of a joke, like how
the female character in Japanese dating sim
video games just falls into a relationship
with a Tokyo doctor or the world’s sexiest
screenwriter alive, shirt unbuttoned right
on the cover of Entertainment Weekly,
or what about the plain and simple, whiskey
on the rocks, hot and cold teacher, and get it
girl, ruffle his hair, drive him a little nuts,
push his buttons as we play this simulation
of love at first sight on our phones, while
our heroine enters her love interest’s home
with its perfect view of Tokyo Tower:
apartment 214, “Just like Valentine’s Day,
he says. “So you’ll always remember.”
And isn’t it weird how two fourteen is the same
number of syllables as “I love you,” those
three magical words that transport you into
this dimension where you’re cooking
bento for your man, but no, aprons are too
frilly, too girly—unless you’re shooting
a video, and I’m reminded of slice-of-life
anime when the schoolgirls line up
with homemade lunches for their school’s idol,
a woman with an alto voice and pixie cut
in gold, on a horse, an ode to female sexuality,
and how I love being a girl, how these girls
put so much love into their bento lunches,
cutting up mini hot dogs into octopus shapes,
and rice balls into rabbits with seaweed eyes,
as their idol passes by on her white horse:
I want to make my own
karaben (character) bento,
buy the freshest strawberries,
cutting them into hearts
then sprinkling on the sugar.
Next, I’ll take mini
sausages, cut them in half,
fry them in a pan, and let
their “legs” open up,
and add black sesames
for their eyes. Now cook
rice and steam broccoli
and stamp carrots into
butterfly or fish or bunny
shapes. Voila! It’s time
to wrap this bento up
with a bow,
and greet a lover, like how anime girls greet
their school’s idol, and they’re so in love
their faces turn kissy, as they offer her more
bento, because food is love, and on screen,
the octopus sausages come to life with hearts
for eyes and kissy lips and squeals, and if you’re
lucky, the school idol herself will drive you home
in her racecar—oh how I love being a girl.