Forbidden Fruit--By Maralee Gerke--United States

Forbidden Fruit

At the end of the gravel road
we come to a padlocked gate.
“No Trespassing” signs
tilt crazily on every fence post.

Standing close on tiptoe,
we peek over the gate and look into
a venerable orchard,
branches nearly breaking with fruit.

The gate kept us out,
made us feel intruders, but
like Adam and Eve
gave us a glimpse of Eden.

Maralee Gerke lives and writes in Madras, Oregon. She is and avid reader and gardener. She describes herself as a work in progress. Her poems have been published in Calyx, Exit Thirteen, Moonset, Bathtub Gin, Anthology, Nerve Cowboy, Avocet, and Tigers Eye. She has published two books of poems and has had poetry and prose accepted in several anthologies. Her work can be seen online at Shadow Poetry, Long Story Short, and Moontown Café. She recently recorded 4 poems for the Oregon Poetic Voices Project. They can be heard at oregonpoeticvoices.org One of her poems “Refuge”, was recently selected to be printed as a limited edition broadside by the Penland School of Crafts.