- THE GREAT MISTAKE
Everyone I knew liked to submit poems there.
- “ENERGY IS ETERNAL DELIGHT” (Blake)
No one knew the rock was hollow.
- REMINDER
The pines whispered secrets all night.
- CLOSING TIME
Thoughts of you bring smiles to me.
- EXTREME SPORTS
You may owe a late enrollment penalty.
- A SIMPLE WISH
Could you please email me directions?
- THE RUMOR
Cyclers and surfers are welcome on board with bikes and boards.
- THE MAIN ARGUMENT
Big trout suspend in pools of love.
- THE DEAD PART
Everyone at the premiere knew it was bad.
10. FASHION RACE IN LAS VEGAS
The transformation was immediate.
- IN THE THICK OF IT
Seven swans staked a territory.
- BRICKS SINKING IN DEEP WATER
I had my hands to myself.
- CHAPTER TWO
We loved the clairvoyant moonlight.
- LIVES IN LIMBO
The apple cider had fermented.
- VIVE LA FRANCE
Swords were integral to the decor.
- TABLES FOR TWO
The road was littered with rocks.
- SPECIAL INVITATION
A red-tailed hawk wheeled above us.
- PREDESTINATION
We sidestepped some people who were selling tour-bus tickets.
- SAD CAFE
I miss Hugh more than I ever thought possible.
- MAZE OF LOVE
I hear myself speaking to my grandchildren as my grandmother spoke to me.
- PRENUPTIAL
It would be great if that artist died in his studio.
- BAD DREAM
As a preferred client, your tax return appointment has been given priority.
- STANDARD FARE
As soon as you read her fiction, Ferrante’s restraint seems wisely self protective.
- IMPLOSION
As typing increasingly eclipses handwriting, will our humanity disappear?
- VICTORY
This is a smoke-free facility.
- THE ROCKIES
We knew them at their peak.
- THE DRAW
We have outlived all of them.
- EACH PAGE A WORK OF ART
Every pencil in the drawer was dull.
- ONCE UPON A TIME
Our tryst was filtered by a champagne dawn.
- MAMA MIA!
All it needed was a little salt.
- CREATE A TRANQUIL SANCTUARY
The creek water was clear & cold.
- MAN AND MACHINE
They sold the farm & retired to town.
- CLIFFHANGERS
The earthquake was inconvenient.
- HEAVEN IS FOR REAL
She dreamed of snow-capped cedars.
- A VISIT TO COLUMBUS CIRCLE
All we knew was meadow.
- CLOWN MUSEUM
The cat’s eyes were the only source of light.
- OLD BONES
At last the tie was broken.
- DIEHARD
Gamers Eric and Glenna strive for that epic win.
- BIG FUN
All day I’ve been watching the coneflowers.
- JIMMY THE GREEK
He dropped anchor like a pro.
- ALL WE KNEW
Jacaranda petals blanket a narrow stretch of highway.
- LOST HORIZONS
You know how sometimes our bodies aren’t ours.
- WEIGHT OF TIME
Shelves in my kitchen bear antique rose cups.
- MIDLIFE CRISIS
I am a foreigner here.
- THE SAD TRUTH
In a dream muddy water is a sign of death.
- WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I?
Avoid burial in a storm.
- NOSTALGIA FOR THE INFINITE
Where blue songs warm the shallows.
- INTO THE SILENCE
Polar wind penetrated my chest.
- THE STORY OF A FATHER
The inevitable set-up was underway.
- THE NEW BOOM IN CELEBRITY PHILANTHROPY
It was the longest nightmare ever.
- LOOKING GOOD
Laughter bubbled over the rapids.
- ROYAL FLUSH
There was no exit, no escape.
- PEACE OF MIND
The canyons were filled with flowers.
- THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE
I couldn’t turn away.
- CULTURAL TREASURE
Her rose tattoo said it all.
- COMPLIMENTARY MASSAGE
It was all an elaborate ritual.
- WHAT DID WE TELL YOU?
The love child was out of control.
- SUPPLY LINE
We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors.
- BORROWED GLORY
Ossian was still regarded as the Celtic Homer.
- THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. (Margaret Mead).
- LOST LOVE
The group stood at 26 members.
- THE DISTANT SHORE
For me, the motif is the starting point, not the end.
- MARGIN CALL
Still, she’d rather be shot..
- ZOO CHILD
Beansie is the third bear to have escaped.
- SANITY CLAUSE
I can’t do it.
- INSPIRATION
I reach into the bag and pull out an old revolver.
- THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
If you have no god, make some.
- BREAKAPART
When he was with her, he became a ghost.
- HOLDING THE SHOULDER
We were still twenty miles from Boston!
- PLENTY OF MEAT
It was the birth of a movement.
- HAWKS OF FATE
Rats ruined the arrangements.
- EXIT THE PROFESSOR
He loved her like a name brand.
- WARNED
What reasonable person could refuse?
- CARGO
Inside the egg was a tiny suitcase.
- RECOMMENDED FOR DAILY USE
They were all donut crazy.
- A STEP BACK IN TIME
The peonies and asters formed a band.
- THE MUMMY’S GHOST
Only the brave will ever know.
- SUMMER DREAM
I loved the snow flurries.
- EMOTIONAL REQUIREMENT
Kindly proceed to the front desk for packaging supplies.
- DARKNESS AT NOON
Don’t forget the time change!
- SEIZE THE CARP
There’s never a better time.
- POLITICS AS USUAL
Suite rates are per night, plus tax.
- LOVE MONKEYS
But we needed the eggs.
- THE GESTURE
I have requested delivery.
- THE DUH FACTOR
We are both of legal drinking age.
- PLENTY OF NOTHING
There’s nothing like Maine lobster.
- UNIVERSAL TRUTH
We must hold to what we cherish.
- OH BOY
The sun shouted joy.
- DRINKING ON SUNDAY
Strangers lack the intimate touch.
- THE IMPOSSIBLE RHYME
He saw time wind into a bind.
- AN EDUCATION
An emerald beetle glistened briefly.
- MORE OF THE SAME
The pines whispered new rumors.
- SPEED OF LIGHT
Even the dock shook in the quake.
- ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Carbohydrates defeated Napoleon.
- ONION BREATH
The spies were excited by the odor.
- SOMEONE MISSING OUT
It was the only love triangle in their circle.
- GOT A LIGHT?
Wax dripped from the sky all day.
- GRECIAN FORMULA
Samson’s haircut was the worst.
- THE WINNER
A tiny sparrow brought the news.
- COAL MINES
The whole country was a mental suburb.
___
Glenna Luschei is a poet laureate of San Luis Obispo city and county. She is now celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Solo Press. She enjoys working with Eric Greinke and has five books published from his Presa Press.
Eric Greinke has two new Presa Press books scheduled for 2016, Poets In Review (a collection of forty-six reviews written from 1972 to the present) and Zen Duende – Collaborative Poems with Glenna Luschei (which includes Lone Bones, published in this issue of Forge for the first time). www.ericgreinke.com