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
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), 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)
[CV: 2012-2019] [2020-2022]
degree-less college drop-out | home librarian/archivist | chronically underemployed |
Pushcart Prize nominated poet | Essential Worker since June 2020 | Working Poor |
IN MY POETIC OPINION
For fellow creatives:
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)
Chill Subs’ [ugh] | Promorando
Purnima Bala’s resource sheet for Lit Mags, Presses & Other Publishing Venues on Mastodon
Borg Diem [Word creation contest for disabled people only]
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 | we have been trying to reach you about your body’s extended warranty | assigned cybernetic at birth [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]
On Behalf of the Hospital in Response to Your Grievance [Camisha Jones]
Nocturne with hysterectomy [Kay Ulanday Barrett]
DIAGNOSTICIAN’S NOTE [[sarah] Cavar]
Ode to Trucking Company Names That Include ‘Trans’ [Dri Chiu Tattersfield]
Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 [Alex Allen]
UPPING THE PROZAC DOSAGE IN SEATTLE [AC HARMON]
The Definition of Okay [Sarah Frazin]
Before the Occasion of Your Death [Courtney LeBlanc]
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]
unfinished one-act play in which the audience refuses to cheer [Leela Raj-Sankar]
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]
portrait of a pandemic [Anisha Narain]
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]
nasa says the universe is growing 9% faster than expected [J.T. ANDREWS]
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]
How to Balance an Egg [Sarah Yeazel]
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]
More Americans Believe They’ve Seen a Ghost Than a Trans Person | Quars Poetica [Ally Ang]
The Neighbors Say (after L7) [E. Kristin Anderson]
On Beyond Zebra [Roxanna Bennett]
of intangible things [Victory O. Okoyomoh]
FOG OVER ASHKENAZ [Dan Alter]
CRUSH [Vera Hadzic]
Humans Lie Too [Yvonne Nezianya]
my father used to sleep in the binding of a merriam webster spanish-to-english dictionary [Téa Franco]
On the Second Night of Chanukah | 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]
There Are Black Lives Matter Signs [Truth Thomas]
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]
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]
To create element #119 [Tingyu Liu]
Fairy Tale for Gardeners [Angela Wei]
How to Mourn the Death of Your Grandfather [Karen Gonzalez-Videla]
BOYS DON’T CRY [Mason Pierce]
Trauma Theory [Audrey Gidman]
AN IMPOSSIBLE ELEGY TO A VAMPIRE [Robin Gow]
From Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life [Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle]
STAR, SICK [Lee Hyemi, translated by Soje]
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]
What Will Kill Me [Olivia Cyr]
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]
How to Live with an Alcoholic Husband [Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar]
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” | any time i tweet like an angry trans person | 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]
library customer service or: in preference of the unruly [benjamin niespodziany]
To Do: Put Brain Together [Annie Crawford]
adhd (an erasure from the DSM-V) [Charlie D’Aniello]
colitis as preparation for the apocalypse [Alexandra Grunberg]
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]
Buy a star and give it your own name [Kylie Yockey]
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]
After the Diagnosis | I Don’t Want to Write Any More Poems [Marissa Glover]
My Strength Lies [Jen Shikes Haines]
Masking & Other Poems [Jane Ayres]
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]
Bashert [Irena Klepfisz]
"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]
On Ritual Washing ¹ [Gisselle Yepes]
PEOPLE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND MENTAL ILLNESS | IN THE COUNTRY WHERE MY PARENTS MET IN A TAXICAB [Diannely Antigua]
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]
THE COLONIZER CREATES THE DIALOGUE, AND WE SPEAK IT [christian hanz lozada]
SELF-ADDRESSING: A X-CULTURAL POEM [yuan changming]
letter to the void or god, if you're listening, I really need some help [Mo]
When I See the Stars in the Night Sky [Joy Priest]
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
[in no particular order:]
Indigenous Futures and Imagining the Decolonial [ANMLY #27]
Queer Indigenous Poetics [ANMLY #30]
“Writing Rules Are Ableist— Here’s Some Better Advice” [Amy Fogarty]
WHITE HOMEWORK [Melanie Farmer]
Disabled and d/Deaf Poets Anthology [Curated by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha]
BEYOND RESILIENCE [EDITED BY KAY ULANDAY BARRETT]
Trans* and Non-binary poetry - an ever evolving resource list
TransTorah (Rituals, Liturgy, Poems, etc.)
10 Principles of Disability Justice [Sins Invalid]
To Hold the Grief & the Growth1: On Crip Ecologies [KAY ULANDAY BARRETT]
High-Risk Pandemic Stories: A Syllabus [Disability Visibility Project]
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON DEAF POETICS (Karen Christie, John Lee Clark and Lilah Katcher)
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON POETICS AND DISABILITY (Sandra Beasley, Meg Day, Constance Merritt, Khadijah Queen and Cy. Weise)
Ableism in Hip-Hop: Krip-Hop Artists Drop Knowledge & Lyrics (With ASL)
A TEMPLATE FOR TALKING WITH SCHOOL AND LIBRARY BOARDS ABOUT BOOK BANS [Kelly Jensen]
Wherever You Are Is Where I Want To Be: Crip Solidarity [Mia Mingus]
Six Ways of Looking at Crip Time [Ellen Samuels]
Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back [ed. Sandra Alland, Khairani Barokka, Daniel Sluman]
‘Sore Loser: a chronic pain and illness zine on queer disabled grief’ [ed. Sandra Alland, Etzali Hernández]
CONFORMITY’S LABOR & TIPS TO MAKE POETRY EVENTS MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE D/DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING [Camisha L. Jones]
Krip Hop Nation — Keith Jones and Leroy F. Moore [Ability Magazine]
Lit Mag Changes Exploitative Name [Kimberly Blaeser]
7 Queer and Trans Creators with Disabilities Fighting for an Accessible World [SIRI CHILUKURI]
9 Afro-Latinx Writers Reshaping the Poetry Landscape [IRENE SAN SEGUNDO]
The Mad Border Body: A Political In-betweeness [Shayda Kafai]
Meet the musicians turning old Yiddish poems into 21st-century songs [Seth Rogovoy]
Disability Tropes to Avoid [Derek Newman-Stille]
Black Disability Justice Syllabus [Sins Invalid]
If you made it to the end, please consider…
donating to Books to Prisoners
joining the Unite Against Book Bans campaign
donating to Books Through Bars
donating to the Autistic People of Color Fund
donating to DYB (Decolonize Your Bookshelf) Publishing’s fundraiser
donating to LGBT Books to Prisoners
donating to Lavender Library
signing the petition to Request AWP to require masks (Seattle)