Best Hints Poems
I Clear Water Mirror
Clear water mirrors the trees;
caressing shades of green dress them still.
Of late, the evenings hold a chill;
the season bend approaches;
ending summer's stronger scented flowers
along the lane nod and point to God.
II First Tang of Leaves
Dying leaves' first tang tints the air,
crisp, pungent flavor of late August haze;
soon their fall will glaze the pond
with riotous, colorful display.
Nature raises her director's wand
and conducts the insects' praise.
© Faye Lanham Gibson, August 17, 2015
Quizz with broad hints for poets
the nose bridge
an ear sans fold kneeling on a slab (sometimes
an upward curling lobe)
two upper ears sans lobes both folded into each other
two narrow noses meeting isosceles arms one leg
crossed on the right arm flat down
an upside down mirror-image interrogating sans point
an upright eye with fish tail tuft
left shoulder and loosely-dangling arm
upper and lower lips intertwined upright
knee-cap over bow leg
vertebral column sliding into hole
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014
Devilish smile intriguing
Suggestive mood hints desire
perfume wildly provoking
humming profound moans
Second Quiz with even broader hints for blind poets
The Princess Anna stood
arms half-akimbo
at the scrawny edge of the receding bank
her Polonaise pollarded down
to her exposed tarsus heels
A wilting comb of fern and shrivelled grass
still clinging to her rump
mud trailing in crusty clumps around the soles
half exposed at the base of the trunk
A soft curling gust about her waist
shook the panticles of her bells
light translucent purple corolla
peeling tinnitus at her lobes
out of the gathering Siberian clouds
sounded like her father calling:
“ Pavlovnia! Pavlovnia! My Darling!
Shake! Shake! Your ample locks!
And let your capsicles pop and drop
Your myriad minute pods
Wafting towards Tsarist towers
Tintinnabulating on troikas and travois! ”
“ Hélas! Hélas! My Royal Pa!
I’m wed for life to nether water-logged land
See how the wind furrows the leathery waters
Licking and tickling my bared soles!
Here with one sawn shoulder and one twisted arm
My hip sags with each dastardly axe-raised slap
Leaning onto the other talus’s side
They say it’s for my own own good
My head was severed at the start
My heart-shaped tresses thick in the heat
Now float on the faint muddy bank tide!
I dream of the day
My Phoenix tubers will climb
And seek the sunrise over the Eastern divide
In lands where the waters drain
Whole crowns of dark-green broccoli buds
Before the sun goes down in the Taiga! “
“ O! I’ll tell your whey-faced mother, My Dear!
Her eyes look long past the Western Gate!
Till your timbers all grow strong with sheen
And we’ll look for a handsome Prince, My Dear!
Sturdy as oak-bound sails on brine!
O! We’ll cut and soothe the grainy boards
Till the dressing-chest’s adorned
With trefoil liana round mirrors and knobs
On the day of your dowry’s prize
For you! For you alone! My Dear!
Down in the lowlands shut in fear! “
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2014
negative feelings
permeate egregiously
hints of truth remain
11-30-15
August 3, 2018
Senryu Contest By Mick Talbot
First Place
As lonely sighs drift across the mountaintops
Mists linger ‘til midmorning, caressing trees
It's evident that the temperature slowly drops,
For a chill is accompanying the August breeze.
Slight hints of color nestle in along the crown
As lonely sighs drift across the mountaintops
A few leaves, growing tired, are drifting down
For autumn leans heavily on August’s props.
Predicting summer’s sodden humid day’s sops
We can enjoy hints of coming autumn’s glamor
As lonely sighs drift across the mountaintops
They call to mind the end of summer’s clamor.
Be still and you can hear echoes of September
Chants of “the hills are alive” music never stops,
The lovely days of August, always to remember
As lonely sighs drift across the mountaintops.
Written August 11, 2022
Touch of morning
Kitchen aroma;
Caffeine fix
~~~~~~~~~
Sunlight dazzles
Myriad colours hurl;
Sights and sounds
~~~~~~~~~
Balcony duet
Lovebirds singing;
Morning serenade
~~~~~~~~~
Observe and see
Marvels of light;
Beyond words
~~~~~~~~~
Wonder tints
Calm acceptance;
Miracle moments
~~~~~~~~~
Bamboo swaying
Windy escapades;
Leafy music
~~~~~~~~~
Sample choice
Declare poise;
Fanfare moves voice
~~~~~~~~~
Pretty curves
Smiles and breasts;
Lovely delight
~~~~~~~~~
Here we sit
Aware of cares;
Stillness presides
~~~~~~~~~
Chinese herbal tea
Hot water brew;
Bitter taste comforts
~~~~~~~~~
Finesse shows
Humour fond wit;
Buzz of insight
~~~~~~~~~
Patient footprints sculpt
Telling footpath here;
Grassy shortcut
~~~~~~~~~
Morning offering
Stray house dog barks;
Urgent nature's call
~~~~~~~~~
City district buzz
Stock trades down south;
Uncertain dilemma
~~~~~~~~~
Crash and burn
Lost valuation;
Business distress
~~~~~~~~~
Sleeping partners
Awakened by loss;
Bad times hurt
~~~~~~~~~
In one swift stride
Joy ride tells;
Curvy smiles arc
~~~~~~~~~
Once upon then
Love's desire;
Discrete sensations
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
01 May 2016
Singapore
Is academic education for human welfare or to kill innocents?
Then why do we practice only to rape a poor for false prints?
We like to live a luxury life but never identify the living dents,
Trying to achieve without honesty and using shortcut hints,
You eat fresh then why is dirt growing in belly to seek mint.
Hints of Autumn are so subtle,
like ripe crops, awaiting harvest.
And nights that darken earlier,
after the dog days of August.
Falling leaves appear overnight,
hints of Autumn are so subtle.
Like a pumpkin turning orange,
under leaves of emerald green.
Canopies start changing colors:
even though October's far off.
Hints of Autumn are so subtle:
like, children heading back to school.
And other subliminal signs;
like, honking geese migrating south.
Although Fall is celebrated,
hints of Autumn are so subtle.
Is academic education for human welfare or to kill innocents?
Then why do we practice only to rape a poor for false prints?
We like to live a luxury life but never identify the living dents,
Trying to achieve without honesty and using shortcut hints,
You eat fresh then why is dirt growing in belly to seek mint.
The 31st day of the 10th month
How many of you have a hunch?
It is quite an odd day for young and old
However truth may be told
The children play throughout the day
Then by night give quite a fright
In these costumes dark and light
Only seen by serene moonlight…
Hints of Autumn
The air kisses night with a chill
As if summer forgets herself
In scarlet sunsets reveries
And ignores crickets whispered hints.
Summer days grow shorter still as
The air kisses night with a chill
When seconds race against the sun
Bearing clues of gold autumn tide.
Misty veils hide her fading smile
In amber red instead of green
The air kisses night with a chill
Thick dew waits to ice orange pumpkins
In maize afternoons summer dreams
Her autumn bridegroom takes her hand
To lead through blue frosty dawns when
The air kisses night with a chill.
8-16-22
Contest: Hint of Autumn
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
Her scent sends me wild
With a hint of lavender
Wafting from her hair
I am no longer myself
When she walks into the room
Line 4 is 7 syllables but not according to the syllable counter.
20~June~2017
For Tanka contest
Sponsored by: Laura Loo
I was trying to be fair
Hiding all my fragile tears
From a man who didn't seem
To notice all my future dreams
Magazines of pretty brides
Tuxes, suits, and fancy ties
Romantic movies on date night
Love songs playing in the night
Pointing out rings in the store
A man I will always adore
Oblivious to all I want
Even though I've tried to flaunt
Signs on front of his blind eyes
That I want our heartstrings tied
Together for now and always
Maybe adding extra foreplay
Will entice him to begin
A day of really noticing
We were meant for one another
When he's near I start to shudder
With excitement and the joy
Knowing he's my sexy boy
Even though my wedding day
Seemed to never come my way
Until one morning he was there
In his eyes were lots of tears
With a ring and bended knee
He took my hand so shakily
A timid voice and loving speech
Now were lying on the beach
This honeymoon will always last
The hints I gave him in the past
Joined us forever till the end
We'll always be best of friends
When I was young, my Grandpa sometimes used
expressions that seemed corny at the time.
“The Lord gave you two ears, but just one mouth”
revisits me each time my face turns red
because I used my mouth more than my ears.
Fast forward fifty years. It’s very late.
My aging bones won’t get the rest they crave
until the lines my lamp illuminates
convey precisely what I long to say.
I then will lay aside my well-worn book
and favored pen, released to seek sound sleep.
Slight hints of Grandpa often make their way
into my poems. Those, I plan to share
with grandkids, who will smile and say, “That’s good,”
but not with much conviction! They will learn—
I hope—as I did, many precious gems
lie waiting to be mined from “corny” lines
composed by aging poets in the night.
Date posted: June 25, 2020
Poetry Contest Title: The Old Scribe Placed 12th of 13
Sponsor: Craig Cornish