She signals the barkeep for another pour,
drains a glass loaded with bourbon
or scotch or gin.  Day slides into dusk,

dusk into night in the tasteful teak lounge
of the boat that glides along the Danube,
which is not blue.  He sheds his loafers,

sidles off his perch.  Barefoot, he lurches
through the hall to their suite.  Soon,
she follows.  Next morning, and the next,

they leave trays littered with bottles, tumblers,
the ruins of last night’s binge.  They are branded
the drink-package pair, downing one, two,

three…ten or more a day. They linger long
at the bar even as the riverboat docks
at postcard ports of call. They remain

on the fringe, miss the dips and turns
of the perpetual waltz on shore.

Irene Fick’s second collection of poetry, The Wild Side of the Window, was published in June 2018 by Main Street Rag.  Her first book, The Stories We Tell (The Broadkill Press), received first place awards from the National Federation of Press Women and Delaware Press Association.  Her poems have been published in five anthologies and in such journals as Poet Lore, Gargoyle, The Broadkill Review, Philadelphia Stories, Mojave River Review and Pittsburgh Poetry Review.   She is a Pushcart nominee for her poem, We Didn’t Know Anything, published in Poet Lore.  Irene lives in Lewes, Delaware and is active in the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild and Coastal Writers.