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tc221bee.bsky.social
Sa’ar Keshet
@tc221bee.bsky.social
260 followers 330 following 330 posts
Poet-On-The-Ground

Politics: Sins Invalid’s “10 Principles of Disability Justice”

📚: saarkeshet.beehiiv.com

📌: linktr.ee/thesameerproject

Support Mask Blocs, Little Free Libraries, food banks, & local libraries!

✨🏳️‍⚧️✨ Trans Rights are Human Rights! ✨🏳️‍⚧️✨
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tc221bee.bsky.social
How has 2025 treated you so far?
Picture from Chronic Illness Humor (June 9th 2025) Cross-stitch with red florals surrounding black and grey text that says: “I live in a body - allegedly”
July 29, 2025 at 5:20 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
From displayed at my county Pride to distributed at a Little Free Poetry Library, here’s three more poems I turned into art cards!

#poetrycommunity & #writingcommunity let this inspire you to make art cards out of your smaller pieces to give to your communities!

Poetry is for everyone!
Scheelk’s poem, “Darling” is written on an index card with black permanent marker, backed with purple paper, and laminated. ————————- DARLING Lucas Scheelk (2021) No phase describes your love, darling Gender expression blended, darling You can look up to you, darling Your love is expanded, darling He, she, they, ze call you, darling Arm-in-arm down the street, darling Each violet and carnation a gift, darling Ease trauma your own way, darling Fabulousness incarnate, darling Don’t despair for those gone, darling They left that path for you Scheelk’s poem, “TranSignificant” is written on an index card with permanent marker, backed with purple paper, and laminated. ————————- TranSignificant Lucas Scheelk 2021 His obituary saved on my phone This is how I keep him with me My dad didn’t see me as his son when he was alive, but since my brother was in charge of the obituary, everyone else will Scheelk’s poem, “TranSurvival” is written on an index card with black permanent marker, backed with purple paper, and laminated. ———————— TranSurvival Lucas Scheelk (2021, published in Mollyhouse Issue 2) Halve the dosage from .5 ml to .3 ml just in case there’s no access I have a T collection, please, I insist, just use mine The option to pay out of pocket for extra syringes is gone I’ll go this week, I already have prescriptions to pick up Catalog needle inventory while surrounded by a support team The cat has joined us in the bathroom for Family Shot Night Compliment incoming facial hair; how regal, how handsome! Yes, it is pretty gay, otherwise what are we doing here?
July 22, 2025 at 5:34 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
“Andrea Gibson was a winner today”

May they rest easy for eternity and live forever in poetry

8/13/75 - 7/14/25
From Andrea Gibson’s Facebook page: ——————- "Whenever I leave this world, whether it's sixty years from now, I wouldn't want anyone to say I lost some battle. I'll be a winner that day." - Andrea Gibson Andrea Gibson was a winner today. On July 14th, at 4:16AM, Andrea Gibson died in their home surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs. Poet Laureate of Colorado, world-touring spoken word artist, author of seven books, Calais Maine High School State Basketball Champion, and subject of the award-winning documentary, "Come See Me in the Good Light", and so much more - Andrea Gibson accomplished much on their 49 years on this planet. Though Andrea desperately wished to have lived a longer life, they could not have possibly lived a fuller one. Since learning they had cancer in 2021, Andrea has been a champion of finding beauty in unlikely places and gratitude in the hardest hours. Over the last four years, they danced with their diagnosis, and continually aimed their internal compass toward joy. One of the last things Andrea said on this plane was, "I fucking loved my life.” Continuing from Andrea Gibson’s Facebook page: ———————- Not long ago, Andrea wrote a poem titled "Love Letter From the Afterlife." In it, they offered this line: "I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined." Today, and all days forward, we hope you feel Andrea's enormous spirit and immense presence beside you. Meg and Heather, the authors of this post, have absolutely no idea how to encapsulate the magnitude and magnificence of a life like Andrea Gibson's, so they intend to keep writing, to keep telling Andrea's story, to keep Andrea alive in every way they can. Andrea would want you to know that they got their wish. In the end, their heart was covered in stretch marks. Andrea Gibson 8/13/75 - 7/14/25
July 14, 2025 at 6:28 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Fuck the Tangerine Fascist, bisexual people will never be erased from history!

I’m valid as a bisexual person, just like Freddie Mercury, Alan Cumming, Jeremy Brett, Mara Wilson, Margaret Cho, Vincent Price, Raúl Esparza, Lilly Singh, Halsey, etc. & viewers like YOU!

Below is my poem/song BI FORCE
BI FORCE Lucas Scheelk (circa 2020-2021) Dear Alan, Dear Freddie, Dear Jeremy, your radiance lights the Earth your heart brought forth is strong enough to pave the way for all darlings Dear Vincent, Dear Mara, Dear Margaret, your radiance lights the Earth your heart brought forth is strong enough to pave the way for all darlings We are the Bi Force unerased from history (we’ve proven consistently!) we don’t recruit but we embrace you the acronym means you too Dear Raúl, Dear Halsey, Dear Lilly, your radiance lights the Earth your heart brought forth is strong enough to pave the way for all darlings Dear Chuck, Dear Tessa, Dear… you, your radiance lights the Earth your heart brought forth is strong enough to pave the way for all darlings We are the Bi Force unerased from history (pansexuals are family!) we don’t recruit but we embrace you the acronym means you too We are the Bi Force unerased from history (this is our identity!) our hearts brought forth are strong enough to welcome you in, darling ——————————— The poem/song BI FORCE is featured in my third poetry book, “A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic” (formerly Mason Jar Press; self-publishing forthcoming)
July 13, 2025 at 7:36 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Poets, one way to share your shorter pieces is turning them into accessible art cards & distributing them at Little Free Libraries!

Scheelk’s 2024 poem, MOURNING IN DIASPORA, goes into ancestral communication as an Irish-Diaspora Jew, unanswered questions, as well as the horror of getting Shingles.
Scheelk’s poem, “Mourning In Diaspora,” is on an art card (laminated sheet of purple paper, written on a white index card in front, with black permanent marker). ————————- MOURNING IN DIASPORA Lucas Scheelk, 2024 (with love to Killorglin) For 5 days, the mourner with Éire in his eyes and Torah in his neshama was struck with thunder within his skull, leaving patches resembling clay Thereafter the mourner adapts his body’s attempts to turn into Bluefire Jelly, cousin to Moon Jelly, burning and pulsating his tentacles daily Writhing in pain, the mourner asks - “if not a banshee, then why does my mother’s wails escape my eyes, and my grandmother’s wails escape my chest?” Reassuring Hashem that any journey to Tír na nÓg would be a family reunion, the partnership with the mourner remained intact Not knowing where to start, perhaps Rossbeigh Beach, the mourner yearned to know what he was now - victim to a fairy strike, Golem, dybbuk, or something else entirely?
July 1, 2025 at 11:08 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Fellow poets, let’s utilize smaller poems into accessible art cards!

If there’s a Little Free Library in your neighborhood, distribute them there!

Below is WHOSE TORAH? (Lucas Scheelk, 2023), a book-spine poem.

Book-spine poetry was popularized by Nina Katchadourian’s 1993 Sorted Books Project.
The front side of the art card, which has Scheelk’s poem, is a laminated purple sheet of paper with an index card in front, written in black permanent marker ———————— WHOSE TORAH? Lucas Scheelk, 2023 (book-spine poem) the best awful minyan Spock’s world ghosts and golems, capable monsters born to kvetch an unquiet mind (omg! that’s me!) knot body referential body twice blessed the uninhabitable depression & other magic tricks (where grief resides) beyond victims and villains The back side of the art card (purple laminated sheet of paper with two white stickers in front, written in black permanent marker) are the sources to Scheelk’s book-spine poem —————— Titles used for WHOSE TORAH? [book-spine poem] are as follows: 1. Whose Torah? [Rebecca T. Alpert] 2. The Best Awful: A Novel [Carrie Fisher] 3. Minyan: Ten Principles for Living a Life of Integrity [Rabbi Rami. M Shapiro] 4. Spock’s World [Diane Duane] 5. Ghosts and Golems [Michele Palmer & Malka Penn] 6. Capable Monsters [Marlin M. Jenkins] 7. Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods [Michael Wex] 8. An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness [Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison] 9. OMG That's Me!: Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and More... [Dave Mowry] 10. knot body [Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch] 11. Referential Body [Rosie Accola] 12. Twice Blessed: On Being Lesbian, Gay, and Jewish [Christie Balka and Andy Rose] 13. The Uninhabitable [Jesse Rice-Evans] 14. Depression & Other Magic Tricks [Sabrina Benaim] 15. MISHKAN AVEILUT: WHERE GRIEF RESIDES [ed. Rabbi Eric Weiss] 16. Beyond Victims and Villains: Contemporary Plays by Disabled Playwrights [Victoria Ann Lewis]
June 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Fellow poets, let’s turn our shorter pieces into accessible art cards!

MAD MENSCH
Lucas Scheelk, 2023
(acrostic-spine poem)

Mask for mask
A million quiet revolutions
Disability visibility

Mourning & mitzvah,
Exiled in the word
Next to normal
Shekhina;
Crip kinship (is)
How we live now
MAD MENSCH Lucas Scheelk, 2023 (acrostic-spine poem) Mask for mask A million quiet revolutions Disability visibility Mourning & mitzvah, Exiled in the word Next to normal Shekhina; Crip kinship (is) How we live now —————————- The front side of Scheelk’s acrostic-spine poem is of an art card using a laminated purple sheet of paper, with an index card in front, written in black permanent marker The sources for Scheelk’s acrostic-spine poem are on the backside of the art card (laminated purple sheet of paper with two white stickers in front, written in black permanent marker) ——————— An acrostic-spine poem (format invented by Scheelk) is an acrostic poem using book spines ——————— Titles used for MAD MENSCH [acrostic-spine poem] are as follows: 1. Mask For Mask [JD Scott] 2. A Million Quiet Revolutions [Robin Gow] 3. Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From The Twenty-First Century [edited by Alice Wong] 4. Mourning & Mitzvah: A Guided Journal for Walking the Mourner’s Path Through Grief to Healing [Anne Brener] 5. Exiled in the Word: Poems & Other Visions of the Jews from Tribal Times to Present [edited by Jerome Rothenberg, and Harris Lenowitz] 6. Next to Normal [music by: Tom Kitt; book and lyrics by: Brian Yorkey] 7. Shekhina [photographs by: Leonard Nimoy] 8. Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid [Shayda Kafai] 9. How We Live Now: Scenes from the Pandemic [Bill Hayes]
June 26, 2025 at 10:12 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I’m opening poetry commissions this month so I can pay utilities ($100) as I continue job searching.

NOTE:
Please first prioritize your own survival needs, as well as funds towards Palestinians, before commissioning me.  

Thank you!
POETRY COMMISSION DETAILS: - $25 per poem - Formats: acrostic, book-spine (text only), free verse, sonnet, echolalic, list poetry - I won’t commission poems glorifying hateful rhetoric against marginalized communities, own voices writings outside of my own communities, etc. - Open to discuss trigger warnings - Any commissioned poem would be yours to share widely with credit to the author (me) - Email: lucasscheelk at gmail dot com If you aren’t in need of a poem but can still help out: Venmo: Lucas-Scheelk CashApp: LucasScheelk PayPal: lucasscheelk at gmail dot com Please first prioritize your own survival needs, as well as funds towards Palestinians, before commissioning me. Thank you!
June 17, 2024 at 5:29 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
This Pesach (& often) I reflect on Hereness:

- how to be a better guest on Turtle Island
- how to best aid in Tikkun Olam

Free Palestine!

——————

Next year may we all be free!

✨ eSims for Gaza [gazaesims.com]
✨ Operation Olive Branch [🔗🌲: opolivebranch]
✨ Freedom Flotilla [freedomflotilla.org]
“DOIKAYT (HERENESS)” 📷: Lucas Scheelk April 2024 This Pesach (& often), I reflect on two questions: 1. How can I be a better guest on Turtle Island? 2. What work does my self (physical; neshama - soul; my choices & mistakes; my ancestors choices & mistakes; etc.) need to do to end complicity in multiple genocides? [ID: The following items are on top of a brown TV tray, next to a mattress and a large pet food container: 1. Clay art of prescription stand with clay medications spilling 2. Multicolored blue mezuzah (on top of clay prescription stand) 3. “My Social Battery” pin set at the second lowest notch 4. Book: “A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism (a collection of personal stories, history, poetry, and art) edited by Esther Farmer, Rosalind Petchesky and Sarah Sills” 5. Evil Eye amulet kippah (folded in half on top of the book)]
April 23, 2024 at 1:44 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Last week I distributed the last 34 copies of, “A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic” (former publisher) to Little Free Libraries.

My books came in the mail 2 days before Small Press Distribution closed.

Why document this?

Getting a book published is a Life Event - even if it’s at an end.
Community Board at Left Bank Books (so-called Seattle) where 6 copies of, “A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic” were delivered. My books were delivered to Little Free Libraries in so-called Port Orchard, Bremerton, and Seattle.
April 12, 2024 at 9:49 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Ever since I first learned about white phosphorus bombs in November

(it’s not new as a weapon, it was new to my knowledge)

I’ve haven’t been able to stop thinking about the Human Shadow that I visited in 2010 (that image has never left my brain)

hpmmuseum.jp/modules/exhi...
INTERCONNECTED STRUGGLES Lucas Scheelk [Feb 2024] From white phosphorus bombs in Palestine to The Human Shadow Etched in Stone in Hiroshima The United States Empire is a common denominator Better examples exist yet I cannot separate the two Even if I never saw the latter myself
February 24, 2024 at 1:39 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I am terminating my author contract with @masonjarpress.bsky.social due to lack of structural support for Palestinian writers

CC'ing @tbq.bsky.social - please remove "All I Want Is A Crunchwrap" effective immediately

Full letter here:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

FREE PALESTINE
Terminating My Contract With Mason Jar Press from the desk of Jewish poet Lucas Scheelk 12 Feb 2024 TLDR; Due to the failure of my publisher, Mason Jar Press, to consistently & publicly, stand for Palestinian writers during the ongoing genocide (128 days & 75 years), as well as ghosting any communications I've made re: Gaza since Nov 12th 2023, I am removing myself as an author from Mason Jar Press, effective March 2nd 2024 (the end of the annual contract). Taco Bell Quarterly Specifically for your role in the dance party event at AWP 2024 (co-hosted by Mason Jar Press, Split Lip Press, and Barrelhouse): Please remove my poem/song, "All I Want Is A Crunchwrap" from your website, effective immediately. What does that mean for my book, "A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic?" Once the contract date has passed (and if any, after filling out subsequent paperwork), and my book is removed from Mason Jar Press, I plan on putting the poems themselves into PDF & similar formats for free. I fundamentally believe, as a poet and artist, that cost should not be a barrier to enjoy poetry. Poetry is for everyone. Image description More Details [while] within the contract, Mason Jar Press has the right to sell the remaining number of books left in inventory, I very highly recommend that the remaining number of copies either be: A. shipped to me so I can donate directly to Little Free Libraries B. donated to schools, public libraries, prisons, etc. with the added note that these are the wishes of the author FREE PALESTINE
February 12, 2024 at 9:17 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I am again calling on my publisher @masonjarpress.bsky.social to use their platform to center Palestinian voices during #AWP24 starting with a statement from RAWI

CC’ing @tbq.bsky.social @splitlippress.bsky.social

My emails re: Gaza sent to MJP have been ignored since November

Free Palestine!
via RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers): Template for AWP2024 “The template: The event organizers would like to acknowledge that we are gathering during an active genocide taking place in Gaza, and that the current violence in Palestine is the continuation of decades of colonial violence under Israeli apartheid. We stand in solidarity with victims of genocide in Sudan and Congo, and with the Indigenous peoples on whose ancestral homelands this conference is being held, including the Osage, Kaw, Missouria, Shawnee and Wyandot tribes. We stand firmly against anti-Blackness and recognize that police violence and all white supremacist violence must be named and opposed. These forms of violence, along with transphobic violence being legislated in Missouri and other states, endanger the lives of trans, queer, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary people. Therefore, as we begin our event, we wish to underscore that none of us are free until all of us are free, and that all anti-racist…”
February 7, 2024 at 11:55 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
MOSAB ABU TOHA (Palestinian Poet) | 23 Jan 2024 There is a little moon over there in the dark sky of Gaza. The moon is made up of kites 🪁 made by Refaat and friends worldwide. The moon needs to grow bigger, needs more kites, to shine over Gaza, to protect her children as they try hard to sleep in the lap of their mothers’ souls. ——————— Source: MosabAbuToha (twitter/x)
January 24, 2024 at 1:08 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Palestinian poet & scholar & activist Dr. Refaat Alareer was martyred today

For more info:
lithub.com/poet-and-sch...
IF I MUST DIE Refaat Alareer If I must die, you must live to tell my story to sell my things to buy a piece of cloth and some strings, (make it white with a long tail) so that a child, somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in a blaze- and bid no one farewell not even to his flesh not even to himself- sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love If I must die let it bring hope let it be a tale
December 8, 2023 at 1:31 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
PALESTINIANS ARE HUMAN BEINGS, B’TZELEM ELOHIM
Lucas Scheelk
PALESTINIANS ARE HUMAN BEINGS, B'TZELEM ELOHIM Lucas Scheelk Many synagogues and rabbis silent amongst shouts of CEASEFIRE NOW please, friend, drive towards action, not silence Minyans adorning tallit and keffiyeh praying "Never Again for Anyone! Not in our name!" in grief and heartbreak over the martyred Using our digital and physical bodies pressuring our reps to Let Gaza Live 10,000 martyred in a month horrifies Refugee camps, colleges, hospitals bombed Palestinians censored in literary spaces before, on, and escalated since October 7th If you only read one war crime against Gaza look up white phosphorous bombs and what it can do to human skin - imagine if it was YOU!
December 3, 2023 at 3:38 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
UPDATE (Nov 21st 2023):

Mosab Abu Toha has been released!!!

Please keep demanding Ceasefire Now!
Twitter/X screenshot on Nov 21st 2023 from Diana Buttu (dianabuttu): “Update on Mosab Abu Toha: he has been released by the Israeli army. Israeli soldiers beat him and he getting medical treatment now and with his family.”
November 21, 2023 at 4:49 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Mosab Abu Toha, award-winning poet from Gaza, has been kidnapped by the IOF.

Join US Campaign for Palestinian Rights on Zoom Tuesday, 11/21 to demand freedom for Mosab, ceasefire now, & the end to U.S. support for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Urgent Phone Zap Tuesday, November 21, 12-12:30 pm ET Israel has a history of targeting those who bear witness -- poets, journalists, artists. We are all responsible for Palestinian freedom. Join us as we call Congress to demand justice for Mosab, safety for all Palestinians, and a ceasefire now. Freedom for Mosab Abu Toha (features a picture of Mosab)
November 21, 2023 at 4:49 AM
tc221bee.bsky.social
[added alt-text for accessibility]
Comic divided into two panels - 1st panel: A goose (labeled Jews) asks “chosen for what?” 2nd panel: The same goose chases a humanoid figure (labeled G-d) while screaming, “CHOSEN FOR WHAT, MOTHERFUCKER”
November 5, 2023 at 2:10 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
THINK OF OTHERS
[Mahmoud Darwish]

[Palestinian poet] [1941 - 2008]
THINK OF OTHERS [Mahmoud Darwish] [Palestinian poet] [1941 - 2008] As you prepare your breakfast, think of others (do not forget the pigeon's food). As you wage your wars, think of others (do not forget those who seek peace). As you pay your water bill, think of others (those who are nursed by clouds). As you return home, to your home, think of others (do not forget the people of the camps). As you sleep and count the stars, think of others (those who have nowhere to sleep). As you express yourself in metaphor, think of others (those who have lost the right to speak). As you think of others far away, think of yourself (say: If only I were a candle in the dark).
October 25, 2023 at 4:41 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I started reading “A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism” this week…

For a few reasons, I don’t talk often about not being a zionist.

For further education:
1. jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
2. decolonizepalestine.com/faq/
3. soniasulaiman.com/readpalestinianspecfic-reading-list/
Cover photo for “A Land With a People Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism” (edited by Esther Farmer, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky and Sarah Sills) The stems of the three orange flowers are barbed wire
October 14, 2023 at 1:12 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I didn’t have five authors copies available, but I had three! Let me know if you’ve found “A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic” at the free Poetry Box!

Finances should not be a barrier to absorb poetry into your bones!

CC’ing @masonjarpress.bsky.social
Three copies of Scheelk’s “A Prayer For A Non-Religious Autistic” placed inside a free Poetry Box (similar structure as Little Free Library stands); next to Scheelk’s books are poetry examples from others in the community. This free Poetry Box is located in the Kitsap Peninsula region of the PNW of Turtle Island, and was installed by the current Poet Laureate: Tia Hudson.
September 12, 2023 at 4:42 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
mentally I am here
Oscar the Grouch in his trash can; the background is kaleidoscopic pink glitter There’s white text over Oscar that reads, “I can do all things through spite, which strengthens me.”
September 3, 2023 at 10:20 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
Happy Birthday!

Good thing that happened to me this morning - I encountered an egg-yolk jelly during my walk!
An egg-yolk jelly (Phacellophora camtschatica) floating on water
September 3, 2023 at 5:31 PM
tc221bee.bsky.social
I went in search for moon jellies during my walk, but found an egg-yolk jelly hanging out instead!
An Egg-Yolk Jelly (Phacellophora camtschatica) floating on water
September 3, 2023 at 3:49 PM