The Turning Leaf Journal
@turningleafjournal.bsky.social
1.3K followers 520 following 69 posts
A journal for CNF, Poetry & Art on the edge of change 🌿Subs open for book reviews & craft essays🌿 https://linktr.ee/theturningleafjournal
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Opening submissions a few hours early as a treat! Send us work written through gritted teeth, clenched fists. Invite us into the moments that changed your life, for better or for worse. We want it all!

turningleafjournal.com/submissions/
Announcing our nominees for Best of Net! Sending congratulations to these folks!

We believe in celebrating the work that’s touched us most or is doing something unique, and that’s what this list reflects.
Opening submissions a few hours early as a treat! Send us work written through gritted teeth, clenched fists. Invite us into the moments that changed your life, for better or for worse. We want it all!

turningleafjournal.com/submissions/
Our final feature from V2.1 is Tanya Nikiforova’s poem, “To Water.”

Read this piece, and the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/t...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Automatic Dripping (3)” by Ellsworth Kelly.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Sam Aureli’s poem, “Geometry of Silence.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/s...

We paired this piece with artwork submitted by Cécile Gonneau titled “Walking Ghosts.”
Today’s feature is an excerpt from @godstained.bsky.social’s poem “on dealing with grief.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/ad/

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Reach,” James Juszczyk.
Submissions open in one week! Yay!

How/What to Submit:
turningleafjournal.com/submissions/

Read previous issues:
turningleafjournal.com/read/

Open September 1st through November 1st to CNF, Poetry, Hybrid, and Art!
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Suze Kay’s poem, “SELFISH GIRL”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/s...

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We paired this piece with artwork submitted by @lowermelody.bsky.social titled “Matrilineal.”
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Alex Mason’s essay, “Strawberry Fanta.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/s...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled  “Textile sample,” Unknown Designer. Manufactured by J. Claude Frères & Co
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Jenny Chu’s poem, “Someday My Mother Will Die.”

Read this poem, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/j...

We paired this piece with photography from the public domain titled “San Mateo County, California (Coast),” by Minor White.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Nancy L. Penrose’s essay, “In a Labyrinth, Time is Suspended.”

Link here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/n...

We commission at least 1 original piece of artwork per issue & worked with Artist @anitaeralieschley.bsky.social to create this one
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Alex Dawson’s poem, “Whale Song”

Read this poem, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/a...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain by Rudy Pozzatti.
The summer 2025 Leaflet is now available! Featuring an interview with @susanbarryschulz.com

Join us in the conversation 🧵:
How do you find inspiration from art? If you try your hand at ekphrastic writing, share it with us! We'd love to read it.

Link Here: turningleafjournal.com/leaflet-summ...
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Kaavya Butaney’s poem, “Tangerines”

Read this poem, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/k...

We paired this piece with artwork titled “Tangerine Sugar,” by Benjamin Schonzeit. Used with permission from Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Christina Lee’s essay, “Wrong Fruit.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/c...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Composition,” Serge Poliakoff.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Patty Somlo's essay, “Trusting Water to Hold Me.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/p...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “The Derelict” or “The Lost Boat,” Arthur Wesley Dow.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Anna Nygren’s poem, “fish calendar.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/a...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Fish Series, No.6,” Charles Demuth.
Reposted by The Turning Leaf Journal
I'm excited to see my poem, Geometry of Silence, in @turningleafjournal.bsky.social . It was a difficult one to write. For years, I avoided speaking openly about my childhood, but now I look trauma straight in the eye. Healing sometimes begins by naming what once had no words.
“Geometry of Silence,” Sam Aureli
Geometry of SilenceBy Sam Aureli It began with a tumble of chairs,a child’s bones, still soft,twisted—a geometry lesson in pain.I bit down hard,swallowed the scream.By nine, I knewthe precise lengt…
turningleafjournal.com
Today’s feature is an excerpt from @adlibby.bsky.social's poem, “A Moon by Any Other Name."

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/a...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Courbevoie: Factories by Moonlight,” Georges Seurat.
Today’s feature is an excerpt from Shannon Mulvey’s essay, “Christmas Dinner.”

Read this piece, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/s...

We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain titled “Paper Plates,” by Helen Torr.
We begin features from Volume 2, Issue 1 with this heart wrenching poem from Kelsy Bellah, “I stopped admiring the sky.”

Read this poem, the rest of V2.1 here: turningleafjournal.com/2025/06/01/k...

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We paired this piece with artwork from the public domain.
It’s here! Volume 2, Issue 1 is now available. We’re so excited to share this with you.

This gorgeous cover artwork is from Cécile Gonneau. The piece is titled “les absents (the missing).”

Read the whole thing here: turningleafjournal.com/volume-2-iss...
Our EIC will be sharing more about these numbers in the editor's letter prefacing the issue.

If there's anything else you'd like to see us publicize, send us a DM or an email.
We're just a few days away from the release of Volume 2, Issue 1! Please share congratulate our contributors--we're so grateful and excited to publish their work! 🌿

As always, we're committed to transparency and are making all of our numbers public (slide 2).
For everyone who submitted work for Volume 2, Issue 1: all of our decisions have been sent out! If you have not received a response from us, please reach out!