Skew Poems | Examples

My Shout was Sent Flying

Rushing back with my shout
drinks held aloft skew-whiff.
I was spun all around
like a wild water spout,
     caught by brush
     flush with haste
     shame's a gush
     blush disgraced
     crowd's hush-hush

Bad Writing

I press keys in a language I’ve borrowed.
I did not create its letters nor learn 
them on my own - or birth the ink 
that stains this page.

I did not mill the paper I blot,
only coarsely abuse it; waste it.
Even the silence between my
sentences is mere blanks in thought.

My metaphors hang limp,
too tired to skew meaning.
Nothing I write lives longer
than the screen’s glow.

I did not seek this craving to write…
it’s just there, with a voice
swimming in a sea of better ones
- and I’m drowning.


Hmm.

Tears of a Clown

He glances ‘round the crowded room,
Where laughter sparks and joy resumes.
He plays along, a practiced mime—
Lifts his lips, but not in time.

For somewhere deep, his mind has flown,
His soul long gone, he stands alone.
What’s left behind, a hollow frame—
A shadowed man without a name.

And oh,
You cannot feign what isn’t true.
So smiles, like paint, began to skew—
A circus mask, a jester’s frown,
The silent tears of one worn down.

The clown remained, as days went by,
But joy, it wilted, left to die.
Behind the lens, a smile posed—
But all that gleamed was false, composed.

Where is the laughter? Where’s the cheer?
What once was light now disappears.
And all that’s left when curtains drown,
Are soft and salty tears of a clown.

He tried to hide the ache with grace,
But sorrow shimmered on his face.
And though he smiled, his eyes betrayed—
The hush where happiness once stayed.

Why, love—
It was the tears of a clown.

Invisible

The pain increases every day
bit by bit, I have no say
I do what I can to ease it all
but it’s been a real long-haul

from cramping feet to head in a vice
swollen fingers, no paradise
aching hips, joints all stiff
inner workings gone skew-whiff

pins & needles, exhaustion too
I get no help, so I push through
muscles ache, it’s hard to heal
feel like perhaps I got a raw deal

Insomnia, brain fog, twitches & more
just some of the symptoms I endure
no two days are ever the same
Its wretched Fibro’s twisted game

The invisible illness no one sees
a chronic condition considered a disease
widespread pain & yet I smile
but some days wish I could turn down the dial.

Life's Storms

When life’s storms come your direction
It can be like an infection
They cause you to feel kind of blue
	So don’t let your storms define you

Storms should not define who you are
Allowing them may cause a scar
These burdens may cause you to skew
	So don’t let your storms define you

You are not defined by your past
Do you know who you are at last
A man died for you is a clue
	So don’t let your storms define you

He bled on the cross for your sake
A new life for you to partake
Believe in Christ and you are new
	So don’t let your storms define you


Edward J Ebbs - 03/14/2025

A travesty

I am far away from home in a land that is now foreign to me
I go outside at just the right moment and I see the moon high in the clear sky
And the sun setting in the background saying good night
But it is a travesty...
I miss my home and I miss my views
Here the sun is being hidden behind tall buildings all around
I see the reflection of the suns colors in the clouds but that is all
I miss my home, I miss my land
It's a travesty what man has done to skew the beauty of the world
~ Pauly G

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Nursery Rhymes Only Contest - sponsored by Eve Roper

To Eve’s winning contestants, I write this poem for you.
I have read each one and commented till I am blue.

You won’t see them there however.
I’ve been getting an error forever.

Your nursery rhymes are clever, cute, unique, and precious.
It is the comment fields that are the most treacherous.
So know I have read and do wish you congrats!
My non-existent comments will skew your stats.

It’s “Error!” “Error!” “Error!”
I am a “System 500” starer.
Where is that IT repairer?

Should I cross my fingers or say a prayer?

Are and Are Not

Disagreement, discussion, and debate are not indicators of hate.

When fetuses die and their mothers no longer cry, we are practitioners of infanticide.

Becoming rich from a Washington hitch is evidence you are a crooked son of a be-itch.

Segregation and diversity mandates are damaging constructs designed to divide and each are a disgrace of equal distaste.

You need it to drive, you need it to fly, you need to buy, voter IDs are not Jim Crow and when you say so, it clearly shows who paints from a racist tableau.

Those who skew NEWS based on their political views are liars and should be considered pariah’s.

When you deny biology in favor of an alphabet ideology there can be but one conclusion; you are possessed by demons of delusion.  

People who say God is not boss and reject Jesus’s work on the cross are wandering through life blinded and lost.

Verdurous thy view

How am I so wounded by you?
Arrows never shoot, but run me through
Beautiful viper poisoning; stares straight, not a skew
I'm glad to be seen by their bite; I'll be its anti-venom, too
Covetous my own thoughts of envy; verdurous thy view
They're green and ravenous, but see me in a form so true
Eyes that sing a siren song; control my affection they do!

Skew - Whiff

When life has gone skew-whiff
And best laid plans have gone awry 
When everything is topsy turvy 
And you're winging it on the fly 

There is something you can do 
To rectify the situation 
Don't waste another moment
Go and run off on vacation 

It's a radical approach
Not to stay and tough it out
And instead hope problems disappear 
When you are not about 

Lying under a palm tree 
Drinking pina coladas while you read 
May not change your problems - 
But its probably what you need

After All Is Said and All Is Done

After all is said and all is done
By Michelle Morris 
07/09/2021 

After all is said and all is done,
can you face the truth?
Can you accept that you're a superstar
with nothing to lose?

Don't let your friends and family
hold you back from your dreams;
Don't let anyone get between you
and your self esteem.

After all is said and all is done,
can you make a choice?
Can you stand up for what you believe
and have conviction in your voice?

Don't let people or the media
skew your true beliefs;
Make sure that you have a backbone
when conflict you must meet. 

After all is said and all is done,
can you count on yourself?
Will you put aside those restless nights
and years of living in hell?

Don't let the demons and monsters
try to eat you alive;
Your soul is made of stardust
and you are meant to thrive.

After all is said and all is done
will you live with no regrets?
What words would suit your 
tombstone or legends of your quests?

Don't let this life go by
without giving it your all;
Be thankful for every chance
that isn't granted every soul. 

© Michelle Morris, 2021

Skew-Whiff

see the seesaw sea
send its waves to rock 
the barrel stave wooden seahorse 
to and fro, askew and slow

though I'm feeling 
skew-whiff in the waddle
and iffy sickly not well
I think I'll stay
riding the bare-back bronco
to whittle the whiles away 
letting the be, what's may
till the break of day

The Waiting

Sitting on a pew
Grilling and skew
Cravings that streak
Gravy of the mountain peak.
Sauces and condiments laid
Sprinkled, dashed and said
Vegetables, meat and bread
Cooked, baked and knead.
Reserving, consuming energy from tree
Drinking, nibbling like spree.
Waiting for the next bonfire and gaze
Rollicking with charcoal, dust and blaze.
A shooting star from the night so dark
Oozing with smoke and might that spark
Writing your name in the dark board of chart
Weaving canvass in your heart of art.

In Dotted Code

Can't keep refusing it's on the hands of you
Is this the haunting image of hell I view?
So, to care or plead for my discreet silence 
Weak hands are calling to you for guidance 
Praying to get help for feelings that permeate
Like watching, hurting, rolled down a sewer grate
Gentle hands tapping a telegraph in dotted code
Seek to find salvation before all these feelings erode
Scared to run, diseases like this don't seem to phase you
Are the answers to it all, I read, found in a hard wooden pew
I wish I had your faults, there aren't many, but I have found a few
Wringing hands, no answers,  come fly around my hell, all a skew
No blasphemy intended, no one nailed to the board
Once written, answers in time, by the pearl gate lord

An Emotional Recharge

Somewhere the sun is shining through
While sadness attempts to claim the day,
Emotions can sometimes get out-of-skew.

Often it is when we do not get our way
Which makes us ignore the brighter side,
While sadness attempts to claim the day.

So easily bruised feelings hurt our pride
We allow our emotions to take charge,
Which makes us ignore the brighter side.

On these occasions we need a recharge
Too often we go with the emotional flow,
We allow our emotions to take charge. 

Succumbing to gloom, we lose our glow
And, if not careful we become depressed
Too often we go with the emotional flow.

Feelings too often take over, unassessed
Somewhere the sun is shining through
And, if not careful we become depressed
Emotions can sometimes get out-of-skew.

Written August 23, 2022

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