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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

@abigailravenheart.bsky.social

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · May 4

I am so incredibly excited to announce my first published work on my real (and legal~) name! Grassroots Literary Magazine selected two of my works for publication, and selected one of them for the Jon Tribble Memorial Award for Poetry.

I am beyond honored and humbled to receive such recognition. 🖤

The cover of Grassroots Literary Magazine, Spring 2025 Edition

Pages 14 and 15 of Grassroots Literary Magazine.

Jon Tribble Memorial Award Winner for Poetry

A picture of Abigail Lilith Ravenheart wearing a black beanie and black Gojira t-shirt, taken in a hotel room in Reykjavik.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart (she/her) is a queer, transfemme poet residing in Carbondale, IL. Her work frequently explores the transgender experience, queer joy and queer rage, polyamory, kink, trauma, and depression. When not writing, she enjoys horror films and novels, the theatre, metal and dance music, a good cocktail, nature walks, attending furcons, and spending time with her partner and their two dogs. She is an advocate for queer representation, kink-positivity, and an all-together stranger and more accepting world.

I Lay Myself to Rest
Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

I lay myself to rest

in light fluorescent; effervescent smile
within the filthy mirror. My shaking hands
still grip the brush; cerulean blue now coats
my tongue. Light-headed rush; the boy is hung.

I lay myself to rest

in acid rain; disdain internalized
springs forth in saline falls. The past dissolves,
no longer spoken; names on gravestones washed
away. Submerging, broken; boy decays.

I lay myself to rest

in sawdust press; duress in forty words
or less. A sentenced death in wax and ink;
defunct, redacted newsroom beats. Adjourned
and empty eyes of pink; the boy deletes.

I lay myself to rest

in adulation; masturbation stokes
a phosphorescent blaze. Entranced as moths
by brilliant lust; the flaming cock from ash
ignites. From boy, to dust, to girl alight.

I lay myself to rest.

Page 53 of Grassroots Literary Magazine

Sepia Tone
Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

Imagine life denied before its start.
Consider choice removed and standards set.
A moral code each child may not forget;
divine directives shape a growing heart.

If freedom’s layered taste is found too tart,
and wants too rich a cost, and rarely met,
is every soul at fault if they’re beset
by mundane dread, and lustful thirst for art?

The depth at which my cravings ache inside
exceeds my waning tolerance for pain.
What legacy is left once hopes have died?

A muse of vanity, bereft of pride.
So filled with loss, no path is left for gain.
Always the groomsman, never once the bride.

The back cover of Grassroots Literary Magazine, showing a list of the contributors in this issue, including Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 1d

If you were to pass, so much of the world's beauty would pass with you. Please live, instead. 🖤

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 1d

You look like an actual supermodel! I always joke that absolutely everyone, myself included, looks better under a pup hood, but you might be the exception fr.

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 2d

Several reincarnation beliefs suggest that those who are wicked may come back as an animal instead of a human. I am starting to think they have it backwards. Being the kept corgi of an Instagram influencer is a way better proposition than paying rent and having depression.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 2d

This is true in my experience, but more because I lack commonality with people a decade or more younger than me.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 3d

It's a hard lesson to learn sometimes. But even having lost people by being authentic, the connections who remain are so much more vibrant and satisfying. You cannot know the depth of love if you stay by the shoreline.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 7d

I want to write something with length, but never feel like I have enough to say. I simply find a poem complete before it ever gets to that length.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 7d

If other poets could chime in on this, I would appreciate it.

How do you write a lengthy poem? I've never completed anything beyond two pages in font size 12, yet I see these incredible, dense works that are near chapter-length.

How do you keep it going? Why not settle for something more concise?

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 13d

Sometimes I feel proud of my work, then other times I read a piece like this and realize I am nothing and nobody.

This is trans angst in a far more elegant and violent form than I am even capable of. This isn't a gut punch, it's a disembowelment. Godsdamn.

www.palettepoetry.com/2025/06/25/a...

A Short History of my Gag Reflex - Palette Poetry

"I’ve been trying to whip sore / wounds into weapons, if only through language; / the tight lisp of my new name,"

www.palettepoetry.com

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 13d

Simple: I don't have enough money.

No country is offering us asylum.I don't work in an in-demand tech field, and so job visas are unlikely. I don't have foreign family. I don't have dual citizenship. I don't work for an international company.

My only option to leave is money, and I don't have it.

Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 13d

I'm realizing a grim exercise/prompt may be in this ...

If others want to share, I'm curious:

Why aren't *you* leaving america (yet)?

Asking for trans folks in particular, especially those of us on HRT and/or other very directly threatened in terms of our healthcare ...

Reposts welcomed. Sigh.

Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 13d

If i were 22, I'd maybe just bail on america. I'm 38 is the problem and I love my life here. My house, my gardens, my dogs. This is where I built my adult existence ...

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 13d

In all the chaos of current reality, I do have some positive personal news: I've had three different works accepted for publication in the last couple of months! Expected publishing dates are in December and January, so I will announce them formally then. It feels good to see my work resonate.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 14d

It's unfortunate that the closest big city kink scene to me is so cismale centric. Because in the unfolding apocalypse of transgender life in America, I could use some serious stress relief.

It's such a strange feeling that my transition essentially made me a stranger in that scene.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 20d

My actual hobbies, I assume. Poetry and kink. I can't imagine being able to look at my socials and just decide what to post.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 24d

Robin Arble is one of my favorite poets. She has been a huge inspiration to me as I started my journey of sending my poems to publications.

Reading this piece, it cuts me to the bone. This is a bone-chilling peak at someone's reality. I hope you are okay, Robin.

dialogist.org/poetry/2025-...

Poetry, Week 29: Robin Arble — DIALOGIST

Direct Address You sit at your desk, starving, trying to transfer $400 from your savings to your checking account in case the Massachusetts Health Connector refuses to pay for your next 90-day supp...

dialogist.org

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 24d

"Everything is fraught
with terror when one’s life is blessed

by saving."

Sometimes I write my poems as a vessel for a single line. One I feel is so potent is deserves the decorum of a work crafted to celebrate it.

This piece reminds me of that. The line I quoted feels so godsdamn powerful.

Identity Theory @identitytheory.bsky.social · Sep 14

Hey! Here's a new poem by @davidrosenthalpoet.bsky.social

Walking After: A Poem by David Rosenthal - Identity Theory

Everything is fraught / with terror when one’s life is blessed / by saving.

www.identitytheory.com

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 27d

I was in Iceland the week of the election. I literally wept in the office of their national queer organization @samtokin78.bsky.social as they told me there was nothing they could do.

I'm perfectly happy to get a job as soon as I'm in the country. I don't want free stuff, I just want basic dignity.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 27d

So when is a country, any country, going to grant us asylum? The federal government wants us eradicated.

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 27d

1. Republicans are attempting to get the FBI to label trans advocacy as domestic terrorism.

Project 2025's parent org is pushing it.

It would not label all trans people as terrorists, but it would open the door for heavy surveillance and disruption.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Republicans Push FBI To Designate Trans Advocacy As Violent Extremism. Inside The Project 2025 Organization's Proposal.

On Thursday evening, news emerged that individuals within and outside of Trump administration were pushing to cast trans activists as domestic terrorists. Then, Project 2025 dropped its proposal.

www.erininthemorning.com

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 28d

I know I'm talking about this anthology a lot, but it's so good! You are telling me there's a FFXIV Endwalker poem in here?!

"the heat death of the universe
is inevitable, so why live?"

@raynealarcio.bsky.social , I ask myself that question all the time.

fifthwheelpress.com/anth7backend...

Girl, In Vitro — Rayne Alarcio — fifth wheel press

Rayne Alarcio (they/he) has work published or forthcoming in Cimarron Review , Exposition Review , at LAX's Terminal 7-8, and elsewhere. They are a 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Silver M...

fifthwheelpress.com

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · 28d

It's nice to see publications making active efforts to defend the work and artists published by them.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · Sep 16

This anthology just keeps delivering.

"was that the final finger
on my lips that I would get? Was that the last appeal
to permanence I’d get? Is this tiny, tiny,

tiny scrap of meat all that I get?"

@aporianautics.bsky.social demanding I wake up with this one.

fifthwheelpress.com/anth7backend...

Area Woman’s Long-Anticipated Makeout with Childhood Best Friend Ruins the Reputation of Trans People Everywhere — Callie Jennings — fifth wheel press

Callie Jennings (@aporianautics) is a trans writer, musician, & game designer based in Boston. She received the 2025 Zone 3 Editor’s Award, 2024 Stacy Doris Prize, and 2023 Bennett Nieberg Transp...

fifthwheelpress.com

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · Sep 15

"the memories that sting the worst are the ones i don't have."

This piece is absolutely incredible. Such an excellent response to the film, a film which broke me down so tremendously. I wept during the film. I wept after the film. I almost wept to this poem.

fifthwheelpress.com/anth7backend...

i saw the tv glow (2024) — sterling-elizabeth arcadia — fifth wheel press

sterling-elizabeth arcadia (she/they) is a Best of the Net winning trans writer and lover of birds, cats, movies, and her friends. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Verse of April , ...

fifthwheelpress.com

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Reposted by Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

Sheryl Weikal and the colorful Parrotlegals @leftistlawyer.com · Sep 12

I seriously don't know how to explain to people that it is not in fact a sign of maturity and democracy to peacefully debate whether certain groups of people should be allowed to exist

46 950 3.8K

Reposted by Abigail Lilith Ravenheart

Allan Smithee @allensmithee.bsky.social · Sep 10

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · Sep 11

Just read this, and it could not have felt more prescient with yesterday's events. Thank you for speaking up about how decorum is used to suppress the marginalized. All this "nobody should be harmed for their opinion" falls incredibly flat when that opinion is "kill trans people in the restroom."

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Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · Sep 5

Just so nobody is mistaken, the NRA is not supporting trans people or their rights. Their entire statement never once mentions us, and uses language they can backtrack with. I do not care that they reposted a tweet about the "tran ban." They lobbied for the politicians who are attacking us now.

Abigail Lilith Ravenheart @abigailravenheart.bsky.social · Sep 5

Felt this one emerging back into my consciousness today and had to reread it. Gods, it cuts right through my soul. Vivid, almost aggressively so, in its imagery. Unrelenting. Agonizing.

"can you blame him for mistaking a stranger's touch for kindness?"

www.burningword.com/2025/01/come...

Comedown in a Club Bathroom | Burningword Literary Journal