Asterales: A Journal of Arts & Letters

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!

Inside my body, a new universe is just beginning- matter and molecules, dark energy all raked together in some pre-universe muck from "Fearful Symmetry" by Allison Blevins. White mannequin head with back scribbles in the brain area reaching past its limits and into a landscape of dark mountains and a spiraling white sky

Read these two poems by Allison Blevins and travel through both the universe and the body, both mysterious and mostly out of our control. asteralesjournal.com/1-4-blevins-sq…

Thank you for reading and spreading the word! Our contributors are amazing!

The absurdity of waiting and the relief of knowing come together in this poem by @sarahmillswrites.bsky.social
asteralesjournal.com/1-4-mills-biggs

Thank you!

Thank you for thinking of us! We're only a year old, but we hope to maintain the wonderful work we're receiving! Happy to be mentioned with @glasspoetry.bsky.social, @whaleroadreview.bsky.social @splitlipthemag.bsky.social and @onlypoemsmag.bsky.social ... such good company!

Put on your Doc Martens and take a hike with nostalgia and regret in this poem by @jillkitchen.bsky.social : asteralesjournal.com/1-4-kitchen-...

Thanks for sending it our way!

We were captured by this dizzy flash piece by @willmusgrove.bsky.social

Take a spin here: asteralesjournal.com/1-4-musgrove...

Subs are open 11/1 - 12/15 Poetry 1-3 poems Prose - 1 piece up to 7500 words (Flash also welcome) Art - 3-5 images at 300 dpi Guidelines at http://asteralesjournal.com

Hey, friends! Remember that Subs are Open for all categories (poetry, fiction, CNF, art) until December 15.

Send us your beauties, your weirdos, your ships in a bottle, your mother's teapots, the trees outside your bedroom windows, your favorite striped sweaters. You know the drill.

Today’s the day! Send us your darlings, now through December 15! ❤️

@sarahmillswrites.bsky.social @chiaroscuro1897.bsky.social @anthonyframe.bsky.social @jillkitchen.bsky.social @susanbarryschulz.com @willmusgrove.bsky.social @charlesjensen.bsky.social

It’s here! Issue 4 is live today, featuring work from Sean Cho A, Sarah Mills, Allison Blevins, Jill Kitchen, Anthony Frame, Will Musgrove, Charles Jensen, Susan Barry-Schulz, Julia Biggs, Sheila Squillante, and Vishaal! #poetry #prose #visualart #literaryjournal #asterales

tinyurl.com/5h25zt3c

@rebunting.bsky.social and I both loved this piece. Excited for everyone to read it when the new issue of @asteralesjournal.bsky.social goes live!

But isn't it about you? I'm confused...

We are thrilled to announce our very first Best of the Net nominees! @prayfortheapex.bsky.social @josephlezza.com @erinmurphy.bsky.social @jasonbcrawford.bsky.social Mike Nees Ellene Glenn Moore @mattkish.bsky.social @amymiller.bsky.social Beige background, green and maroon lettering - text is centered and framed by two bunches of maroon and pink asters with green stems, one on each side of the text.

We are thrilled to announce our very first Best of the Net nominees!
@prayfortheapex.bsky.social @josephlezza.com @erinmurphy.bsky.social @jasonbcrawford.bsky.social Mike Nees Ellene Glenn Moore @mattkish.bsky.social @amymiller.bsky.social

Brown Text: Deer Wife, red gold sunrise haloing her head, stepping gentle on legs slendered down to cloven points Backgroun - Gold/orange autumn grove of trees with a puddle and a semi-transparent female deer standing in the foreground.

There is so much mystery and wonder in this poem by @fklein907.bsky.social Read "How I Met My Deer Wife" in Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-klein-wi...

This still life has such color, movement, and surprise that we couldn't resist. Check out @carolee.bsky.social's Canary #1 in Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-martin-b...

A swirl of spilled white paint on a light grey background - text reads "The can flew off, lid popped open, white paint flying up and down that aisle" Gail Martin "And We Never Spoke of It"

This poem's narratives give us unspoken consequences and family dynamics that are so much more than just anecdotes. Read Gail Martin's "And We Never Spoke of It" in Issue 4.
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-martin-b...

Just a reminder that we're open until September 15 for subs! We'd really love to see more prose and more art, particularly. Send away!
asteralesjournal.com/submissions

What's on the inside? It could be fire. Check out this amazing collage work from @lauriemmarshall.bsky.social in Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-johnson-...

maybe this is the section of the scripture that just lists the livestock everybody owns & all the begetting... John Paul Davis "Diminuendo" White text on black backgrouns with rays of light filtering through a stained glass window on the upper left.

What a pleasure to find a completely original love poem that takes you on a journey through the literal heart. "Diminuendo" by @johnpauldavis.org does just that. Read it in Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-davis-wi...

This b&w photo is a story in and of itself. Check out "Italian Sea" by Rachel Turney in Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-trautman...

"spring blossoms coming down like so many baseballs into the cage. How I finally understand the way it can rain anything." From Spring is for Remembering by Megan Sterling. Text on a light blue background with pink petals and baseballs raining down in a random pattern.

Experience the headlong rush of images and memory in Meghan Sterling's "Spring is for Remembering" in Issue 4!

www.asteralesjournal.com/1-3-sterling...

Open for subs until September 15, and we're light on prose and art. We love short and long stories and all types of visuals. Send us your best!

Watercolor painting entitled Small Lichen on Goatskin Vellum - pastel grays, greens and blues show the lacy forms of a lichen on a linen-colored background.

Intricate watercolor of Texas Spanish Moss with a tangle of delicate green tendrils and a thin brown branch

Featured Artist Sandra Wilcoxon's delicate botanical watercolors wowed us with their detail. Take a look at her work throughout Issue 4!
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-wilcoxon

Editor @rebunting.bsky.social has a new poem in @glasspoetry.bsky.social today!

www.glass-poetry.com/journal.html...

We were floored by this simple poem about the complexity of love. Read "An Old Friend Posts His Mother's Death" by Melissa Fite Johnson in Issue 4.
asteralesjournal.com/1-3-johnson-ma…

Submissions for Issue 4 have been coming in strong during this first week - poetry is still dominating the queue, so prose writers and visual artists, we'd love to see work from you! Subs are open until September 15.

asteralesjournal.com/submissions