every cruise ship has a morgue

emmy newman

and that seems worrying particularly considering

your own lack of vacation days and how little time you get to yourself

with the kids running around and drawing on the walls

or the nihilistic voices in your head complaining about existence

don’t we go to the sea to start over

everyone knows that that’s why they like to take pictures

as you board the ship as you run your fingers over the railing

isn’t that why they have lifeboats and fire drills and cabin doors

lockable from the inside only sometimes it is still not enough

three to seven seems the generally agreed upon

count of bodies that can be stored aboard a ship’s morgue

but on a trip from Fort Lauderdale to Lisbon

the chef found an excess body in the freezer

counting the dead seems like picking a good melon

you can never smell the ripe sweetness in the store

cataloguing is the mortician’s duty but no one really mentions

who comes into that job aboard the ship

it would get boring for a true professional I imagine

sitting on the lido deck waiting for someone to die

sipping a breakfast smoothie waiting

for someone to die watching the shuffleboard tournament

waiting for someone to die staring out

into the waves waiting and dozing and waking pleased briefly

that no one has died meanwhile emailing pictures of sunsets to their mother

worrying about fire or a snorkel malfunction

or getting left behind as the ship pulls away from port

as the rest of your life noses out of the harbor and catches a good breeze

isn’t that why you took to the sea to hold it all together

here is your bed your sunset view your chocolate fondue tower

your place to rest your dinner plate your last pillow mint