Her first book of poems Senca v srcu (Shadow in the Heart) was published in 1949, while Obledeli pasteli (Faded Pastels) came out in 1965, and Temna tišina (Dark Silence) in 1992.
Facing censorship and critical rejection for Senca v srcu, Škerl withdrew from literary life for years.
Because of the propaganda against her book, it had sold out, but by the time her next collection was published, Slovene poetry was leaning towards modernism, and her observations of intimacy remained on the periphery of the literary scene.
Written in metaphorical language, the poems depicted the pain of unfulfilled erotic expectations, which leads to a feeling of isolation, doubt, weariness and fear.
Among others, she translated Claude Aveline's Baba Diène et Morceau-de-Sucre in 1953, and Victor Hugo's Les travailleurs de la mer in 1956.
In her last years, she was considered the lone woman aspect of the poetic collective Pesmi štirih, along with Janez Menart, Ciril Zlobec, Kajetan Kovič and Tone Pavček.