NOTE:

This was originally published on my Rainbow Stormcast substack on February 4th 2023.

The plan is to move selected posts from my substack over here before deleting it entirely.

Substack has become too comfortable with platforming fascists.

DISCLAIMER:

All writing and art created by Lucas Scheelk / Sa’ar Keshet is 100% human-made, and does NOT use generative AI or ChatGPT.

This page does NOT endorse generative AI or ChatGPT.

Any writing and/or art created by Lucas Scheelk / Sa’ar Keshet may NOT be used for generative AI or ChatGPT, and permission will NOT be given for that purpose.

TO BE UPDATED ON DISABLED/CRIPPLED/MAD TIME

Feb 7th 2023:

Added For Fellow Creatives section | included featured Trigger Warnings | included works by: Kimberly Wolf, Courtney Marie, Gisselle Yepes, and Diannely Antigua

Feb 15th 2023:

Added LGBT Books to Prisoners, Lavender Library, and “Request AWP to require masks” petition to suggestions section | included works by: MEH, The Open Siddur Project, christian hanz lozada, yuan changming, Mo, Joy Priest, torrin a. greathouse (additional) | Added Borg Diem, Spoonie Authors Network to For Fellow Creatives section | Added Derek Newman-Stille’s “Disability Tropes to Avoid” series in Supplemental Readings

March 1st 2023:

Added personal CV | Added Sins Invalid’s Black Disability Justice Syllabus, and Matir Asurim’s resource page to Supplemental Readings

August 7th 2025:

While no new poems have been added since March 2023, some poems have been removed due to the following: individual poem(s) removed from their published journal, the publication itself closed down, the website has become private, potential virus warning when attempting to go to the website, etc.

Disclaimer #1:

Poems may contain triggering content; please take care of yourself first and foremost, that’s the most important thing.

❝

Triggers featured, but are not limited to:

Addiction, alcoholism, drug use, substance use, grief (parent death), grief (pandemic), ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ableism (medical; societal), sanism (medical; societal), homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, Holocaust/Shoah, racism, self-harm, suicide/suicidal ideation, etc.

Disclaimer #2:

Mileages may vary; you may not enjoy these poems that I recommend, same as I may not enjoy what you recommend to read, and that’s okay! I know there’s galaxies worth of works that I’m missing, I’m also continuously finding amazing poems to read!

Disclaimer #3:

The poems posted are links that are readily available online, free and open to the public; with that said, if your work is on here and you wish for me to take your poem down, for any reason, please email me: lucasscheelk at gmail dot com

Disclaimer #4:

In My Poetic Opinion started with me casually saving bookmarked poems over the duration of almost two years. This is an ongoing project; this is a project of love.

As to why these poems - they speak for themselves, if I’m completely honest.

I love them for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: poetic formats, themes of historical & cultural & political importance, the feels (example: reminds me of dead-mom-grief), subjects relating to one or more special interests, etc.

My findings came from (but are not limited to):

- Recommendations from fellow poets

- Duotrope’s free posts (i.e. their twitter account) that highlight indie journals

- Twitter tags: poetrycommunity; writingcommunity; amwriting; amreading; etc.

- E-newsletter subscriptions to literary journals

- Chill Subs

- Following literary publications on all their socials (Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, TikTok, etc.)

I believe in literary accessibility and that finances (especially lack thereof) should not be a barrier to figuratively absorb poetry into your bones.

Disclaimer #5:

Please share this page far and wide; all I ask of the reader is to credit me, please and thank you! Resource-sharing is my communication style!

Who am I?

Lucas Scheelk (they/them) [About The Poet]

college drop-out | home librarian/archivist | chronically underemployed |

Pushcart Prize nominated poet | Essential Worker since June 2020 |

IN MY POETIC OPINION

For fellow creatives:

List of 168 Poetic Forms
Nina Katchadourian’s Sorted Books Project | The Art Assignment
How To Write Book-Spine Poetry (Kansas City Public Library)
The StoryGraph (authors can submit Content Warnings for their books)
Disability in Publishing
Spoonie Authors Network

INDIVIDUAL POEMS

[in no particular order:]

ENTRY REQUIREMENT: MORE MANGOES, LESS YOU [Raisa Reina]
If America Doesn’t Want You Dead [Danez Smith]
won’t you celebrate with me [Lucille Clifton]
And [Karisma Price]
I TOLD MY GRANDFATHER MY NAME [J. Jennifer Espinoza]
The Fine Line Between Self-Loving And Self-Loathing [nat raum]
(A Poem Is a) Naming Ceremony [Rena Priest]
& WHEN THEY COME FOR ME (REPRISE) [Golden]
[X][Y] / [X][X] [Golden]
To the man pretending not to cry in the next stall [Ankh Spice]
Letter With My Ghost [Poet: Sebastian Merrill & Artist: Lisa Sette]
When My Therapist Tells Me My Depression Must Help My Writing [Poet: William Fargason & Artist: Millian Pham Lien Giang]
Yom Kippur 5781 [Richard Fox]
Double Rainbow [David Ebenbach]
Jews in the Wrong Place in San Diego [Michael Mark]
DIAGNOSTICIAN’S NOTE [[sarah] Cavar]
Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 [Alex Allen]
UPPING THE PROZAC DOSAGE IN SEATTLE [AC HARMON]
Before the Occasion of Your Death [Courtney LeBlanc]
Lithium | Sick4Sick [torrin a. greathouse]
DOMESTIC, DISORDERED [Margo Lapierre]
Treatise on a trans NDN love scene | INSTRUCTIONS FOR GROWING A POSTAPOCALYPTIC LOVE | “THE CREATION STORY IS A SPACESHIP” [Kai Minosh Pyle]
The Harvesting of Grief [Njoku Nonso]
Picture | another godddamn poem about drinking, whatever. [D.T. Robbins]
The Cats Protection Society [Guy Elston]
Masked Smiles | Chronic Lockdown [Miriam Culy]
The French Toast Has Burned, I Have Killed Someone, and I'm Sorry | My Therapist Says My Family Suffers From Intergenerational Abuse | Litany In Which Certain Things Cannot Be Fixed [Anthony Aguero]
unfinished one-act play in which the audience refuses to cheer [Leela Raj-Sankar]
i shouldn’t have brought my phone to the farmer’s market why did i have to bring my phone to the farmer’s market but i don’t know when the buses leave and anyways how do i sit with myself [Camille Intson]
The Mind Block | The Dissociative American Dream [Lina Abdul-Samad]
The Days We Learnt the Memory of Shame [Fatima Aamir]
Why My Poems Arrive Wearing Black Gloves [Karen Rigby]
The window is still waiting [Laura Garrison]
What’s the difference between a Disney mermaid & the last Kalinga tattoo artist? [Jessica Hudson]
GOOGLE DOC OF DEATH [Conyer Clayton]
recipe for the ones who forgot how to love [Maria S. Picone]
Instructions for Grieving [Alicia Auhagen]
The Last Beekeeper [Samyak Shertok]
A Discourse On Why Inmates Exit Prison Worse Than When They Went In, The Self As A Contradiction, My Lungs Imagine Themselves, Apology, In Defeat, From Disfigured Hours [Brian Batchelor]
the narrated footage of muusoctopus robutsus omits their withering away [Emma DePanise]
On the train from Kraków [Maia Elsner]
HOW TO LEAVE A PARTY (VARIATIONS) [Adrian Sobol]
Earth Gazing | THIS PROPHET HAS FIBROMYALGIA [Lior Hardin]
Your DNA Results Are In & the Researchers Send Their Condolences [Taylor Kirby]
still life as a dreamscape on pause [Clio M.W. Hamilton]
STAND UP ROUTINE [Sasha Debevec-McKenney]
thought that was you, breathing [Anthony Procopio Ross]
Buzz Lightyear Has a Crisis | Sour Patch Kids [Mercury-Marvin Sunderland]
A Sestina for the Representation of Suicide in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend [Maya Williams]
THE PLOT THE HEIST THE POT [Victoria Mbabazi]
TECHNICALLY TRESPASSING [Shaemus Spencer]
A Resume for Good Employers Only [Austere Rex Gamao]
fear of police, but as sci-fi, because /that/ you can understand -or, less passive aggressively- get these fucking phasers out of my face [J.C. Rodriguez]
LADIES’ NIGHT AT ACE HARDWARE [Kara Dorris]
The Neighbors Say (after L7) [E. Kristin Anderson]
On Beyond Zebra [Roxanna Bennett]
FOG OVER ASHKENAZ [Dan Alter]
CRUSH [Vera Hadzic]
Yellow Star [Risa Denenberg]
RUIN THE ENDING | EMAILING IN A PANDEMIA [Stephanie Athena Valente]
walk-ins welcome [Kay Allen]
FLORIDA MAN SAYS HE HAD NO IDEA BEATING AN ALLIGATOR TO DEATH WAS ILLEGAL [Yann Rousselot]
The Day My Mother Died [Leanne Grabel]
Finding Out You’re Dead by Walking Past Your Grave [Amy Acre]
I am everyone’s gay BFF and I’ve earned unfettered access to all your ruby slippers [Chris Tse]
Epithalamium [sam sax]
the awkward 20-something guide to dating [Adina Ferguson]
the first cigarette after my second stay in the Bellevue psychiatric unit isn’t nearly as good as I remember it being & for a brief moment I consider quitting yet still ignore a homeless man who asks for a loosie & feel so ashamed I cross the street where there is no crosswalk [Anthony Thomas Lombardi]
Ignore my chores [Lysz Flo]
“DO YOU HAVE THOUGHTS OF HARMING YOURSELF?” | ANXIETY ATTACK IN A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY BATHROOM STALL | ANXIETY ATTACK TRYING TO REMEMBER THE WORD FOR FEAR OF IRREGULAR GROUPINGS OF HOLES [Marlin M. Jenkins]
I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE PRETTY POEMS [Adele Elise Williams]
CV-[ ] University [Maria S. Picone]
Rust Belt Jessie’s Taxonomy of Ghosts [Jessie Lynn McMains]
How to Mourn the Death of Your Grandfather [Karen Gonzalez-Videla]
BOYS DON’T CRY [Mason Pierce]
AN IMPOSSIBLE ELEGY TO A VAMPIRE [Robin Gow]
From Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life [Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle]
CHANGING MY PRONOUNS @ HOME DEPOT LOL [grace (ge) gilbert]
TORAH AND SECULAR LEARNING | How (Not) to Avoid Harmful Spirits — A Brief Talmudic Guide [Bogi Takács]
Micro Mutant Postcard #61 | Micro Mutant Postcard #41 | Micro Mutant Postcards #44 & 45 [Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri]
To Comfort The Disturbed, and to Disturb the Comfortable: Onward children of the sun [Cesar A. Cruz]
AUTOCOMPLETE QUESTIONS [Adam Scheffler]
Every Woman on Earth Has Won a Razzie for Really, Actually Crying [Mollie Russell]
It Takes a Calculator to Count the Dead [Leigh Chadwick]
Thank You for the Somatoform Disorder Diagnosis (or Psychiatry Needs Therapy) [Anonymous]
LANDLESS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [Nate Marshall]
An Oboe for Me and Grandpa [Jeri Frederickson]
A Voicemail Left For My Psychiatrist [Emily Adams-Aucoin]
The First Time I Googled Packing I Got Images of Suitcases Because I Thought Siri Would Call Me a Slur for Typing “Trans” | TRANS POETICA | Origen [SG Huerta]
i didn’t tell my best friend i was non-binary because we were bros | what gender do you dream [lukas ray hall]
Camp Synagogue, 1941 [Liz Marlow]
something haunts the new development [Michelle Cadiz]
Aubade to Southern Black Superstitions, Burning Hair, and Being Good [Rochelle Robinson-Dukes]
I Ask the Questions Around Here [Chloe Martinez]
Bad Jew [Sophie Panzer]
To Do: Put Brain Together [Annie Crawford]
Ned Nelson Really Needs A Job (An Employment Adventure) [Eric Crepeau]
CHOOSE YOUR OWN PSYCHOSIS [Jeremy Scott]
BARCODE POETRY [Kyle Flemmer]
I researched this poem, I promise [Mary Rose Manspeaker]
Migration Season | Face Down | On The Anniversary Of My Father’s Death, His Pocketwatch Begins To Tick [Words: Kelli Russell Agodon; Art: Arthur Asa]
Tell A Child About Something That Causes You Fear Or Dread | Huddled In The Smallest Circle | When We’re The Only Brown People At Nomwah [Words: Kay Ulanday Barrett; Art: Arthur Asa]
Call Your Mother (Alcohol) [Katie Jean Shinkle]
Grad School, and other Manic Episodes | Framework | you can swim underwater, just don’t... | The Body (in theory) [Kelsey Smoot]
Marbleization is usually performed only for safety reasons. | glitter golem | What it is to be a dybbuk who has travelled from Somerville to Brighton | TRANS LOVE SONG | Spring Ritual | Let (((This Be The Verse))) (((a performance in excessiveness))) [Elana Lev Friedland]
On the Night of My Collapse | To My Nipple | Aperture | Saran Wrap [Travis Chi Wing Lau]
Thirteen Ways of Looking At My Mother's Radio [Taiwo Hassan]
After Death [Nora Pasco]
The Space Between Our Texts [Olga Dermott]
Femme Futures | I know crips live here | CRIP INFINITY [Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha]
Summer [CHEN CHEN]
The Patient Copes by Wilding Her Type 1 Diabetes [Violeta Garcia-Mendoza]
un [naming] / trans (After Golden) [angelic proof]
THE ROAD TO REHAB IS PAVED [Poet: Adele Elise Williams; Art: JoAnne McFarland]
APOCALYPTIC LUCK [Ysabel Y. Gonzalez]
FEMME/HOME [Sarit Ben Aryeh Frishman]
TWELVE THOUGHTS ON DEPRESSION [Lauren T. Yates]
THIS LAND IS WHERE WE BURIED EVERYTHING THAT CAME BEFORE YOU: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CONCEPTS OF OWNERSHIP IN EARLY ELEMENTARY EDUCATION [Julian Randall]
Haunted [Chloë Rose]
Mourners Kaddish After a Mass Murder [Heather Paul]
a short history of silvering | a list of minor trans gods [E.J. Schoenborn]
To Sincerity - A cento for Abed Nadir [Jacob Stratman]
The Machines Had Accepted Me For So Long [Angel Leal]
Soft is Not for Touching [Marie Kressin]
The Committee Weighs In [Andrea Cohen]
kviti: on yearning | yahrzeit for my past self [Rana Bickel]
"SICK PAPER DOLLS" | "CATEGORIES" [Poet: Madison Phyper; Art: Adrienne Gantenberg]
Bipolar as a weather event | In the alternate reality where my bipolar manifests as incredible superpowers [Kimberly Wolf]
death of the party [courtney marie]
stop talking | an open letter to a classmate on a conversation we never had [MEH]
מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ לְבָּרְוָחָה הַנַּפְשִׁית | Mi sheBerakh for Mental Health Wellness [The Open Siddur Project]
When I See the Stars in the Night Sky [Joy Priest]

SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS