Best Skeins Poems
Scarlett thought she was promised permanent security.
Satchels of resilience bound her fragile wrists.
Woodland deities hailed her.
Underworld demons feared her.
The curious townsfolk simply stood in contemplation -
Inviting epee's gleamed in their eyes
as the garden shears, in their hands, smiled.
Scarlett oft pretended she was Joan of Arc.
Threads of meshed titanium webbed her sheltered heart.
Sour Grimm moppets heralded her.
Skeptical fairy godmothers chastised her.
The relentless wheel of innocence spun without interruption.
Persnickety rogues sashayed in dumbed silence -
permitting their sordid counterparts unwelcomed invitations
into a void where reverend satchels are tragically punctured.
Scarlett donned spiked eye patches in her latter years.
Protective velour swatches masking mass and the masses.
Myths and urban legends empathized with her.
Gods and martyrs appropriately buried her.
The dumbfounded spirits circle Scarlett's broken window with raised eyebrows.
Quizzically staring at rotting barrels littered with skeins if shredded satchels -
yards if tainted fibers being hopelessly spun into yet another
dark, forgotten midnight.
Categories:
skeins, irony, sad love,
Form:
Free verse
We know knitters knit wool from skeins,
and when wet, us the wearer complains,
for our pullovers shrink,
and so this made me think,
why don't sheep ever shrink when it rains?
Categories:
skeins, riddle,
Form:
Limerick
The month of October is a most delightful time of the year.
Though skies at times may be gray and the weather drear,
It proffers so many splendid opportunities for our delight,
Like the glowing hunter's moon casting its brilliant light!
Trees have donned their colorful robes for our viewing pleasure.
Languid Indian summer days linger with warmth that we treasure.
Golden pumpkins ripen for jack-o-lanterns and delectable pies,
And skeins of geese rule the pristine skies with their haunting cries!
Busy farmers reap their harvests ere the snows begin to fly.
Magnificent roses now silently close their petals with a final sigh.
Oak and ash logs are hewn for a winter night's glowing flame,
Nigh which folks will fellowship watching the Sunday game!
Happy children relish a hayride down a moonlit country lane,
Sipping hot apple cider and joining in harmonious refrain!
Later to toast marshmallows and enjoy hearty wiener roasts,
As they regale others by a roaring fire with tales of spooky ghosts!
Halloween parties bobbing for apples and scary costumes are replete.
The neighborhood echoes with anxious pleas of "Trick or Treat!
Nothing quite compares to the wonderful sights and sounds of fall.
October is nature's last resplendent spree ere come the wintry pall!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF
© All Rights Reserved
Categories:
skeins, seasons
Form:
Rhyme
Overhead, skeins of geese begin their annual flight.
Colorful robes of foliage adorn the trees for our delight.
Towering mountains wear crowns of glistening snow.
Over earth the harvest moon casts it's mellow glow.
Babbling brooks will soon be covered with shimmering ice.
Enterprising squirrels gather their winter's fare to suffice.
Radiant sunsets are painted by the Master Artist that are so nice!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Placed No. 2 in Carol Brown's "FALL IS AROUND THE CORNER" Contest - Sep 2011
Categories:
skeins, seasons,
Form:
Acrostic
Oh, give me a home where majestic buffalo roam,
Where antelope graze and rushing streams foam!
A place where snow-capped mountains reach for the sky,
And gentle winds waft through blue spruce with soothing sigh!
Oh, give me a home where golden eagles soar on high;
Where skeins of geese delight my senses with their clarion cry!
A home where splendid sunrises greet me each morn,
And spectacular sunsets, The Master Artist, the sky doth adorn!
Oh, give me a home where verdant fields thrive with golden grain;
Where cowpokes herd cantankerous cattle on wide-open plain!
A place where magnificent mountain goats and sheep can be viewed,
On steep and rocky tors, content with their own, seeking solitude!
Oh, give me a home where in autumn, elk vent their plaintive blare,
Seeking to charm the feminine species to provide himself an heir!
Where glorious Columbine blossoms grow in profusion,
And golden leaves of aspen create a fairy-land-like illusion!
Unlike the hapless and adventurous Conquistador,
I've found that home and so very much more!
I've found my beautiful Eldorado,
Right here in Colorful Colorado!
Categories:
skeins, beauty,
Form:
Rhyme
Written: January 23, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Regina Mcintosh
"There are twilight times when only the moon will muse on my misery." By POET.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadowy stillness does embrace
Showing the town such a showplace
People are fully dressed for sleep
Love aching is a wound so deep
The trees that line the waterway
In morning softness, gentle sway
She has no will but pain and weep
Love aching is a wound so deep
A painter shares his scene with care
Each moment bears a love affair
Regain some bliss others keep
Love aching is a wound so deep
The river's voice is full of pain
Gorged in tremulous skeins of rain
With love, its beauty holds a heap
As it flows onward to the sweep
Love casts a moon hush in the gloom
Seraph love time starts to assume
The moon shone down a hillock steep
Love aching is a wound so deep
Categories:
skeins, analogy, love, moon,
Form:
Kyrielle
Thoughts keep coming back
of late afternoons
with the dark wings
of currawongs weaving
pathways through the high
branches leaving long threads
of song draped across trees -
the drifting skeins
of woodsmoke from winter fires
burning in cozy rooms,
eyes fixed in hypnotic stares
on dancing flames and minds
meandering the past, some
about to fall asleep.
Thoughts keep coming back
of snow falling silently
in feathery flakes
outside the window
and in the distance, an owl's
plaintive call going unanswered
in the thick air.
I listen to the sound of the fire,
a ticking wall clock,
breathings from beneath
a folded quiet and the drip
of melt water from somewhere
in the dark. I would like to stay
here but the fire is dying out
and its glowing embers
are nearly spent. A chill
is seeping through the cracks
opening between the past
and the present.
Categories:
skeins, memory, time, winter,
Form:
Free verse
When the cat imitates
people and put on shoes,
there is a house party
Mr Puss in Boots emulates ...
When the cat plays
with skeins of wool,
makes a pretty mess
at grandma's school ...
When the meek cat
takes all his milk,
pleases his owner Beth
delights his owner Mr. Rilke ...
This innocent cat,
don't eat chocolate
and don't bark either ...
Do not eat nougat,
but loves to eat fish ,,,!
It's cute, so cute, it's cute
so fluffy this cat ,,,!
Categories:
skeins, allusion, art, cat, humorous,
Form:
Free verse
I think that I shall never see,
A more magnificent scene to me,
Than skeins of geese in pure flight!
'Tis truly an awe-inspiring sight!
'Tis a wonder of God's Creation,
That they fly in perfect V formation!
As they glide thro' autumn's lowering skies,
I harken to hear their haunting cries!
I stand in awe as they pass in review,
Blessing my soul as all too soon they fade from view.
3 October 2022
Categories:
skeins, bird, nature,
Form:
Rhyme
'Tis often said that the best things in life are free.
Open your eyes and keen those ears and I think you would agree!
When Old Sol gilds the eastern skies then settles in the west,
We're awed by the Master's Artistry and we are truly blessed!
Note the magnificence of a rainbow arching across the sky;
In the ebon universe, the celestial bodies silently passing by.
The sight of skeins of geese winging their way to points unknown;
The sound of soughing winds through the pines so stately grown!
Dew drops on crimson roses at dawn that grace a pristine lawn;
The gamboling nigh yon copse of a graceful doe and her fawn.
Hear the laughter of little children cavorting in the park,
And the cheery song in the lea of a very contented meadow lark!
Sounds of water playing its hymn rushing o'er stones in a stream;
The sight of a majestic eagle soaring high and its clarion scream!
Mountains reaching for the sky are a magnificent sight to behold;
In the autumn, the trees all cloaked in crimson, yellow and gold!
Herds of buffalo and sleek antelope grazing on the rolling plain;
Awesome displays of lightning to be seen during a pouring rain.
There are so many things that are free, too many to really measure,
That don't cost a cent if we'd only take the time for them to treasure!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2015 All Rights Reserved
Categories:
skeins, imagery, life, universe,
Form:
Rhyme
Vacant but for
minute shadows,
I’d mistaken
for clouds
our sky has lied
again; it is
only blue;
chastely blue.
No longer do you
wait secretly
behind celestial
skeins of dust.
You are only in my eyes.
©Kathryn McLoughlin Collins
September 16, 20012
Categories:
skeins, loss,
Form:
Free verse
The problem of the inclusive pronoun is still very much a problem for the writer, and needs an accepted solution. I tried for years with a suggested one of my own, but it never caught on. So here, I have simply alternated them--over and over!
Your Best Friend
You may not know him very well
and often slighted her at times
you needed him the most.
You neither heard nor gave a thought
to all the wisdom packed among
the secrets of her mind.
He fades from time to time,
and often thinks she is not wanted, nor
quite sensible enough to speak out boldly,
lest he bowdlerize the common sense
proclaimed by gilt-edged saints
enshrined in texts the priests
bear high above our nodding heads...
and would she dare to disagree?
But there he is--
and all the little thoughts churn
endlessly, and quite in vain.
She is your friend, conceived on skeins
of common cloth; his sources are
the mysteries the ages pass
to everyman, the flying residue
of concepts born of the enlightenment
that generates upon prolific shores
unseen--some call them mansions
of a heavenly domain where God resides.
I will not reduce such visionary
to a royal personhood, give him a sex
nor place him on a throne. She is
too much for anyone to pray to, bow before,
or lovingly array in ermine robes
and facial hair,
and that best friend denies his pedigree
to so assume.
And yet a modicum of faith preserves
a shred of confidence within
that she does not in plain reality,
so lead.
Your friend (and any God who may personify
himself) does so abound in unexplored
and virgin territory, that ready inspiration
is available to any meditator or philosopher
who stumbles over truth--best friend indeed!
No question is too much for her examination;
there are nuances to the myriad of answers
he may entertain, or at the least, confront.
No preachment is beyond her reach.
He leaves no clue to her identity, for
He is you!
~
Categories:
skeins, friend,
Form:
Free verse
Understandable... the sensible
(three ringed circuitous) logic
to trumpet necessity
each individual moost heed
bedecking, cloaking donning,
ludicrous interloper facial covering,
(I prefer sporting
latest custom made
invisible máscaras faciales),
when commingling amidst madding crowd,
nevertheless coronavirus (COVID-19)
makes laughingstock kickstarting
maniacal paranoid testing yapping
authoritarians blabber ceaselessly
bleak household pandemic
plagues (sear ring)
robust human specimen,
hence yours truly,
a feckless (gibbon) primate
breathes sigh of relief,
why? cuz he counts himself insignificant
absolute zero worth
versus microscopic prickly orb
aging long haired pencil neck geek
best beat hasty retreat
to his man cave
not necessarily avoiding microbial denizen,
yet any potential suffering
scouting out troubadour woefully
jackknifed inept hideaway
availed no choice
rolls out Harris tweed Scottish matt
courtesy minuscule germ man
greeting me with gotcha!,
I willingly surrender
the only thing at stake iz my life,
which would immediately
ebb fate (mine),
automatically buzzfeed chap
offer no chance
for symbiotic relationship
as pathogens indeed choreograph
(dirty deed done dirt cheap)
loft hilly doth waft
through cellular skeins comprising
garden variety/ generic gent
herewith essentially crafting
his poetic epitaph
before onset disables,
disallows, and disvalues
one humble, intelligent, jesting
kindhearted, literate, modest
nincompoop aimlessly adrift
within Brownian movement
(*****sapiens random motions
viewed miles skyhigh)
ostentatious, piteous, querulous,
ridiculous, superfluous, et cetera,
thus forward donations
and/or pledge
(I promise you -
swear to dog
portion of me ashes)
to favorite charity
and will hoop to visit thee as repurposed
noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun,
preposition, conjunction, interjection,
numeral, article, or determiner...
Categories:
skeins, 12th grade, caregiving, heaven,
Form:
Dramatic Verse
The autumn winds are rattlin' the leaves of corn stalks in the fields.
The corn has been harvested and the farmers are calculatin' their yields.
Golden, yellow and crimson leaves are strewn along the country lane.
Autumn! What a glorious season! 'Tis apple pickin' time again!
Mornin' frosts spread a coat of icin' atop every corpulent punkin'.
Jolly kiddies gather at parties for an old-fashioned apple-dunkin'!
Skeins of geese are wingin' south with their cousins the Whoopin' Crane.
Autumn! What a resplendent season! 'Tis apple pickin' time again!
The branches of apple trees bend low bearing luscious apples galore,
Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Rome Beauty and so many more,
Waitin' to be plucked from California's shore to the rocky coast of Maine!
Autumn! What magnificent splendor! 'Tis apple pickin' time again!
Ah! To lounge by the fire and enjoy popcorn and cider when the snow flies,
And at Thanksgiving to gather with family to savor Grandma's apple pies!
Jars of apple sauce and apple butter line larder shelves, the winter to sustain!
Autumn! The most delightful season of all! 'Tis apple pickin' time again!
Alas, I won't be pickin' apples from my one and only apple tree this fall!
Sneaky worms, hordes of squirrels and birds have eaten them one and all!
The way those varmints robbed me of my apple crop is a downright crime!
But despite it all, I still cherish autumn 'cause its apple pickin' time!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) All Rights Reserved
(Not for the contest)
Categories:
skeins, autumn, humorous,
Form:
Rhyme
I like to watch skeins of geese flying in the autumn sky,
And I like the smell of frying bacon and luscious cherry pie!
I like to see the sun tinting Pikes Peak's crown in the early morn,
And the glorious Colorado sky as the sun ends its daily bourne!
I like to feel the tug of a rainbow trout on my fishing line,
And graceful garlands of snow adorning a ponderosa pine!
I like quiet evenings with my spouse nigh a warm and glowing fire,
Where we reminisce and dream of things for which we would aspire!
I like family reunions with my kids, grandkids, uncles and aunts,
And this may sound curious, but I like sharp creases in my pants!
I like to sit on the patio to muse and watch the squirrels at play,
And I like to go to church for inspiration, fellowship and to pray!
I like to listen to classical music or bury my nose in fascinating book,
And take leisurely evening strolls along a rushing mountain brook!
I like ice cream, tater chips, meatloaf, Brussels sprouts and chicken fried,
And I like the American flag that I shall always salute with pride!
I like it when the Denver Broncos and the Colorado Rockies win!
(But, alas, neither team is doing that well, much to my chagrin!)
I like to hear the rolling thunder and rain gently falling on my roof,
And the rhythmic clip-clop upon the pavement of a horse's hoof!
I like barbeques and fireworks in the park on Independence Day,
And the mulitude of stars winking at me from the Milky Way!
I like the smell of roses and the rejuvenation of April showers,
And I like work - I can sit and watch it for hours and hours!
I like the charm and beauty of a little child's beguiling grin.
I like Laurel and Hardy and Jack Benny with his squawking violin!
I like to socialize with folks with can-do attitudes and high ambitions!
(I like most everything I reckon, 'cept sloven schmucks and politicians!)
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Categories:
skeins, introspection, autumn, sun,
Form:
Couplet