Asterales: A Journal of Arts & Letters

Both sidea, front and back, all parts, a rhythm of swinging,a rhythm of movement, the predictable way objects are first far away and then become close, closer, and then are moving away again, behind, if you turn your head, farther, farther, and then not seen. Carolyn Williams-Noren "The Brain Discovers its Injury and Recovery" all written in black text over a background photo of a road sided by green trees in golden sunlight with the yellow words PAST PRESENT FUTURE superimprosed from the bottom to the top of the road.

Another gem from Issue 5 - this form-follows-content cnf about the nature of injury and thought from @creakyvoice.bsky.social.

www.asteralesjournal.com/2-5-williams...

A yellow background with PLEIADES in white text in a black box with photo of a doll with orange ribbons in dark locks, a teal and red patterned shirt and pants and black arms and feet. The face is patterned with beads and irridescent colors.

Svetlana Litvinchuk Lily Pond Near Desna Dacha I carefully turned each item to its shady side, exposing collecting the harder to reach bait on a mission that was to the sun the damp underbellies of discarded things, one-part hunt and one-part forage. Early mornings were best for trash pit diving, when the dew was still evaporating off the bent lounge chairs, broken toys, heaps of food containers and other trash too hard to burn. Much later I would learn that this faraway smell of country fires that roused such childhood nostalgia wasn't the earthy fragrance of smoked meat, but of burning garbage, that musky incense of poverty. My tiny hands were ideal for finding the small wriggling bodies, dropping them with a plink into the can, as entire families helplessly trembled before my pincer grasp filling the container as the men smoked cigarettes and waited to go fishing. This is one way that children become the provider of the family that no one ever talks about, having no say in the risks to their bodies, only the singular option of doing as they're told disguised as child's play. My own body, pale and small, was accustomed to entering the forest reliant on men who drink to protect me from the lurking wolves and owls who waited to carry me away, the way my mother cautioned in bedtime stories. When the sun burned off the morning's haze, that's when the flies came out to swarm- dutiful parents protecting their young from the perils of early harvest. My reward for the morning's labor was a detour to the lily pond where the men watched as I waded into the water, stripped down to my underwear, careful

The first page of more new work from Asterales Issue Five poet Svetlana Litvinchuk in the new issue of @pleiadesmag.bsky.social!

A photo of red turnips clustered over ice covered leaves. Text: When I say I want flowers, I mean I want to be round and fertile as the Earth. I want to be a turnip left in the ground through the frost-to grow tender in the cold months and leave the earth richer than I found it. Svetlana Litvinchuk, "When I Say I Want Flowers"

Still celebrating our Issue Five contributors while we read subs for Issue 6 - we're open until March 15 and we'd love to see your visual art, your prose, and your poems!

Today, enjoy the fertile beauty of Svetlana Litvinchuk's "When I Say I Want Flowers".

www.asteralesjournal.com/2-5-litvinch...

We are thrilled to have @sjane.bsky.social as one of our featured artists in Issue Five.

If you are a visual artist (participating in Februllage, perhaps?), we would love to see your work for Issue Six.

asteralesjournal.com/submissions

While you're prepping your submission for Issue Six, take a break and enjoy this tasty tidbit from Amanda Lee's story "You Need to Lose Weight" in Issue Five.

www.asteralesjournal.com/2-5-lee-sloat

The wind / may whip it, but the bird rides / the violence

Don't forget, subs are open until March 15. No fee to submit and we want to see your poems, your prose, AND your visual art!

asteralesjournal/submissions

I may live in MA, but I will always be home on the edge of the Mid-Atlantic. New poem in @asteralesjournal.bsky.social

White text reading "You are primordial life, my miles-deep mystery. What lives in your absence of light? How does that darkness mold me?" Rebecca Kirk Connors "The Mid-Atlantic Cradle" over a photo of ocean waves at night in white and deep blue.

Cradle yourself in the ocean with @aprilist.bsky.social "The Mid-Atlantic Cradle" in Issue Five.

www.asteralesjournal.com/2-5-connors-...

Soar and ponder with the evocative movement of "November" by @energiapoet.bsky.social in Issue Five!

www.asteralesjournal.com/2-5-gifford-...

Issue Six Subs are now open!
While you prep your submissions, enjoy @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social's work in Issue Five!

This very cold day has been perfect for me to work on the personalized thank you notes for our Issue 5 Contributors, something our editors really enjoy!

While we prepare to highlight each of our Issue Five Contributors, polish up your poems, prose, and visual art for our Issue Six Submission Window, opening February 1!
Guidelines at asteralesjournal.com/submissions

We are so excited to feature your work!

Thank you for sharing it with us!

Correct link here! I got too excited...

asteralesjournal.com/current-issue-2-5

Oops, wrong link!

asteralesjournal.com/current-issue-2-5

Cover page of the website at asteralesjournal.com with the names of pieces and contributors in beige colored boxes with original art in circles.

Issue Five is now live with words from @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social, Katie Kim, @aprilist.bsky.social Svetlana Litvinchuk, @creakyvoice.bsky.social, Amanda Lee, & Stephen Energia Gifford Bell. Art from @sjane.bsky.social and @titaniayellow.bsky.social!

asteralesjournal.com/currentissue

Issue One Successes black text on linen background with red/pink asters at the bottom. ALL DETAILS on silde at http://asterales.com/celebrations

Issue Two Successes black text on linen background with red/pink asters at the bottom. ALL DETAILS on silde at http://asterales.com/celebrations

Issue Three Successes black text on linen background with red/pink asters at the bottom. ALL DETAILS on silde at http://asterales.com/celebrations

Issue Four Successes black text on linen background with red/pink asters at the bottom. ALL DETAILS on silde at http://asterales.com/celebrations

We're celebrating our first year of publication by sharing some of the successes of our Year One contributors. Without them, there is no journal!

Check out the new Celebrations page at asteralesjournal.com/celebrations for details and links.

Stay tuned for Issue Five coming up later this week!

Aren't they gorgeous!?

3 abstract painting - one in grays and whites, one in pinks, oranges and yellows, and one in teal and white featuring circular shapes and a corner box that reads Feature Artist Sheila Squillante.

We were taken by the movement and emotion in these abstracts by Issue 4 featured artist @sheilasquill.bsky.social
asteralesjournal.com/1-4-squillante

Your editors read their eyeballs out the past few days so that we could make decisions and send emails before the holiday hits. Emails going out tonight...stay tuned for Issue Five in January! And thanks for being with us for our first year.

B/W photo of a monument of several repeated figured with primitive featured heads on rectangular plinths arranged in a semicircle with a smaller one at the center. Text reads "How Many Memorials Make a Lesson" Vishaal

This haunting photo by Vishaal from Issue Four will stay with you

Two more days to get your submissions in for issue Five! Still would love to see more prose and visual art!

Two colorful collages using papers and found text on a beige background with the artist's name Susan Barry-Schulz in dark brown text.

The collage work of @susanbarryschulz.com graces two different pieces in Issue 4 accompanying work by @jillkitchen.bsky.social and Sean Cho.

www.asteralesjournal.com/current-issu...

A photo of Gwen Stefani in dark red lipstick looking disgusted or afraid, wearing a necklace of crystals with a background of lawns, sidewalk and trees and a quote from the essay "Track 8: Sunday Morning (No Doubt, 1997) by Charles Jensen - "The way a person's thoughts and mood are visible in their facial expression, their posture, their walk, their energy level. Negative feelings really gum up the work of our bodes."

Monday morning quarterbacking old relationships through the lens of No Doubt's "Sunday Morning" with @charlesjensen.bsky.social :

asteralesjournal.com/1-4-jensen-s...

white text: I hope by the time we get there we will find exactly what we were looking for. each bird already having a name. from Metrology Theory #7 by Sean Cho A. Text is on a photo of a car's rearview mirror framing a curving road and a roadside of yellow grasses and green fields with a cloudy sky.

A road trip and a moment to linger in this beautiful poem by Sean Cho A. from Issue 4:

asteralesjournal.com/1-4-cho-a-ba...

Don't forget...submissions for Issue Five are open until December 15. Particulary looking for more prose (F or CNF or hybrid) and more visual art!

Send us some things, will you?
asteralesjournal.com/submissions

White wall with the shadow of leaves cast upon it. Black text that reads "As the garden starts to silence, I think, Is this what it's like to hear/a god? I want to scream like a star exploding, but instead I sit/and hold my wife's hand and wait" From Reading Rosebud Ben-Oni's Turn Around, BRXGHT XYXS While Listening to Tori Amos's Cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart During the Total Solar Eclipse" by Anthony Frame

Relationships, music, poetry, and heavenly bodies interact and eclipse one another in this poem by @anthonyframe.bsky.social

asteralesjournal.com/1-4-frame-sq...

Nov 1 - Dec 15 Subs are Open! Poetry, 1-3 poems. Prose - 1 piece up to 7500 words (flash also welcome) Art - 3-5 images at 300 dpi Specific Guidelines on the SUBMISSIONS page of the website: www.asteralesjournal.com

Don't forget...we're open for submissions of poetry, prose and art until December 15. Send us your best and maybe help us kick off Year Two of Asterales in January's Issue 5!