The Danube

"You never used to drink so much"
I said standing beside you on the balcony
overlooking The Danube.

The look on your face
made me wish I would just jump
put an end to the awkwardness.
I suggested you put the bottle on the floor,
but when I tried to take it, you gripped it
as tightly as you used to hold me.

I wondered if anyone at the party
had noticed we had gone.
I wasn't going to go back in there alone.

I couldn't think of anything else to say
I just stood there
thinking of when we first met
the time in a restaurant I made you laugh so much
that red wine trickled out of your nose.
Chianti had made you so cruel.

"I never meant to hurt you"
you said to me softly,
your voice sober.
You threw the bottle into the river
and wrapped your arms around me.
The water rippled like a love heart.