Bleating Thing Magazine

@bleatingthing.bsky.social

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A twice-annual magazine of poetry, flash fiction, essays, hybrid work, & visual art. EIC @cursetheground.bsky.social More on our website: https://tinyurl.com/5vnsajea

A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: "in the pristine absence of light I become something." - Dara Goodale, at 3am on weekends ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: "Flesh is solid and good and it is just as much as our souls, our souls made only of finite, quantized neurotransmitters" - Anj Baker, Flesh Would Melt ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: Details from Vampire Sunrise by Carella Keil on following slide. ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: "I was thinking about [...] caterpillars, who re-organize their earth-bound bodies and become winged creatures late in life." - James Lilliefors, Snow ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: Details from Loner by Rachel Turney on following slide. ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
Against a backdrop of marble, a flower grows from a broken statue of a bird in a cupped pair of hands. The statue is obscured by the text, which announces: ISSUE 05: FRAGMENTS OF A PAINTED CULT sculpture garden/classical statuary The image is colored pale shades of green & pink.
Against a backdrop of marble, a stone sheep marches with a pennant in its hoof. The overlaying text reads: ISSUE 05 PROMPTS FOR FRAGMENTS OF A PAINTED CULT The image is colored pale shades of green & pink.
Against a backdrop of marble, a flower grows from a broken statue of a bird in a cupped pair of hands. The statue is obscured by the text, which announces: ISSUE 05: FRAGMENTS OF A PAINTED CULT sculpture garden/classical statuary The image is colored pale shades of green & pink.
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: "[Fern] tells us during read-and-share that there was a fire in the bathroom and that her bird died. Smoke pressed against its chest feathers and its heart stopped beating and it went black and still." - Ivy Jones, Cream-and-Sugar ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A red-and-yellow toned image of a two-headed sheep standing in a field, against a backdrop of trees. The text reads: "Concrete cracks like my sandy-colored face under a Global Warming sun" - Keith Gaboury, Concrete and Petroleum through the Centuries ISSUE 04 BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
Bleating Thing runs entirely on the volunteer efforts of a small outfit solely interested in uplifting writers & artists. All positions, including existing editorial staff, are unpaid. Out of respect for the time & labor of our team, we coordinate on scheduling & delegation efforts to ensure that workloads are easy to manage & minimally time-invasive. Applicants should be fluent in English & familiar with our mission statement, submission guidelines, & previous issues. Given the occasionally sensitive nature of the content we receive, we require that staff members be over 18 years of age. Prior literary magazine experience is not required, but preferred.
A lamb & ewe stand across a patch of hay from each other, turned toward the viewer with black-spotted eyes. The overlayed text reads: Become a Bleating Thing Staff applications open
Maroon stationary textured like aged paper. In the top left & bottom right corners, a mirrored line art illustration of the head & shoulders of a sheep with downturned, almost melancholy eyes. In the center of the image, the note reads: ONE DAY LEFT TO SUBMIT TO ISSUE 04
Maroon stationary textured like aged paper. In the top left & bottom right corners, a mirrored line art illustration of the head & shoulders of a sheep with downturned, almost melancholy eyes. In the center of the image, the note reads: ONE WEEK LEFT TO SUBMIT TO ISSUE 04
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the text reads: Details from "Self-made Solution" by Connor on next slide Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from "Tiny" by Sara Das Gupta: " An ant crawls across my page I carry it into the sunlight " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from "An Exaltation In Transition" by Sol Rios: " glory then, the baritone, glory the blunt edge of blade slipped into leather purse, glory the sounds of the night " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from "Pelicans" by Pam Clements: " A line of pelicans passes above us . . . Their legs are pulled up close to their bodies, their outsized beaks pointed home in the syrupy light. " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the text reads: Details from "Beauty Beyond What's Broken" by Rainbow Robbins on next slide Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from Elenaor Ball's "The Solstice": " The strawberry moon hanging heavy and low, its edges as sharp as a papercut. " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from Peter Mladinic's "The Two Dollar Bill": " Two dollar bills are little miracles, so are can openers, screwdrivers, and this " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from Lydia Rae Bush's "Wind Sang": " I didn't know if you had ever tasted grass so sweet, but I bet the wind sang at the touch of your wings " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
Close up on a portion of a collage. A long-haired figure in a billowing coat strides boldly away from the viewer, across a grid of large squares smattered with paper diamonds & clipped phrases. The only complete phrase visible on screen is PLAYTIME FOREVER.
Maroon stationary textured like aged paper. In the top left & bottom right corners, a mirrored line art illustration of the head & shoulders of a sheep with downturned, almost melancholy eyes. In the center of the image, the note reads: Bleating thing is open for submissions for our fourth issue now thru July 31
Maroon stationary textured like aged paper. In the top left & bottom right corners, a mirrored line art illustration of the head & shoulders of a sheep with downturned, almost melancholy eyes. In the center of the image, the note reads: We are opening soon for our unthemed fall/winter issue!
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from Ed Taylor's "COCKEYED OPTIMIST (antidepressants)": " buds come sailing back upside-down as saints when eyes open from prayer " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the text reads: Details from "Savor" by Vier Barreiro on next slide Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from Adam Hollowell's "Fast or Slow": " We should be entering their sacred spaces without knowing the rules, without even knowing if we had dressed right, or where to put our shoes. " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the text reads: Details from "At the End of the Rainbow" by Lindy Giusta on next slide Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from E.G.N. Lafleur's "Noah poem": " The sovereignty of roses left in a creaking church. Something humming between their petals " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, a quote from nat raum's "myrcene": " . . . blue fades into purple. fugue state fades to sleep, its own conundrum " Read the issue BLEATINGTHINGMAGAZINE.COM
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the magazine banner reads: Bleating Thing Issue 03
A soapdish sits under a canopy of fabric roses, the dish carved with the small figurine of an angel in a frock gazing down at the lamb nestled at her feet. Above their heads, the magazine banner reads: Bleating Thing Issue 03
Against a backdrop of pink, purple, and peach roses, a bust-up clipping of a two-headed lamb framed in a garland of roses hovers over the following text: SUBMISSIONS CLOSING FRIDAY
Against a backdrop of pink, purple, and peach roses, a bust-up clipping of a two-headed lamb framed in a garland of roses hovers over the following text: SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENSION send poetry, essays, hybrid work, & visual art now thru feb 14
Against a backdrop of pink, purple, and peach roses: A two-headed lambs lays on a bed of pink roses underneath a banner of text that reads gaudy infinitesimal wants to catalog your unabashed gratitudes!
Against a backdrop of pink, purple, and peach roses: A two-headed lambs lays on a bed of pink roses underneath a banner of text that reads ISSUE 03 gaudy infinitesimal
A landscape shot of a battered underpass, a ladder is barely visible against the concrete. Both the ladder and concrete are stained with algae (or possibly mold) indicative of a receding tide. The image is stained black and red.
Against a backdrop of pink, purple, and peach roses: A two-headed lambs lays on a bed of pink roses underneath a banner of text that reads ISSUE 03 gaudy infinitesimal
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: "I knew nothing had ever been nurtured in the depths of that house but wanted desperately to believe." Crystal Taylor, Polished Rocks
The following image is stained black and red: Several cut-off comic panels against a translucent floral backdrop, each panel filled top to bottom, edge-to-edge with snippets of text from what appears to be an academic lecture on sexual liberation. A hand-drawn speech bubble emanates from a figure just off screen: SEX WILL BE GOOD TOMORROW!
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: Find her wound. The one that held her purpose: the stem. Larissa Larson, How To Skin a Grape
A nude woman in a white veil fills the frame from bust-up. Her face is cast in shadow under the veil. She wears a string of pearls & a silver key around her neck. Her hands are cupped palm-up over her heart, gesturing toward the translucent knife that hovers between them. The whole image is stained black and red.
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: very few things explain my existence like parentheses & em dashes with nothing in between Ahana Chakrabarti, summer '24
Details from a folk portrait of a punk woman: her sharp nose; her grill of bared teeth; her bustier & sleeve tattoo patterned in a likeness of her ferocious face, repeating
"Before I could master any tongue, I stuttered in gusts of salt, carrying a childish hope" Para Vadhahong, Fairy Tale
A severed crow's head hangs from a tendril of spinal cord against a backdrop of grey cloud, shedding a single tear into the negative space. The image is stained black and red.
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: I didn’t know how / one could bring about / the extraordinary. I didn’t // know how worries and sorrows disappear Reyzl Grace, The Tygress
A bisected King of Hearts lays flat against a floral backdrop. Collaged text covers the image: you fall many times through tiny fractions of love half-wild calling for a briar sharp heart The whole image is stained red & black
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: "the cosmos cracked open like a skull Our menagerie of fire and dust spilled out" Castle Yuran, In the beginning
A collage of various illustrations of leaves - some textbook engravings, some crude hand-drawings - underneath a cutout of a full-lipped mouth. From the mouth jut what looks to be a mismatched set of upside-down legs. The whole image is stained black and red.
Half a red sheep's face hovers in the upper left and lower right corners, against a backdrop of shadow. Overlayed in the center of the image, the text reads: "I am sorry but it all seems impossible, and I know others have done this before, lived through thin air and found breathy heaven in the aether above, but I don't think I can, I really don't." Spencer Nitkey, Grail, 2004
A red two-headed lamb stands against a backdrop of shadow. Hovering above it in red script: BLEATING THING ISSUE 02
Two red sheep, each bissected by the either edge of the image, stand against a backdrop of shadow, surrounded by red mist. Above them in script font: bleating thing ISSUE 02
a two-headed lamb with wings ascends from out of the tall roses into a grey sky full of visual noise. the script font hovering above it reads "bleating thing." underneath, the crux of the message: ISSUE 1 NOW LIVE