Author Jay Sturner

(From the book HEARTVINES )

Photo by Shanin Abreu (From the book HEARTVINES )

Such a little pop, a flare of dinosaur. Warmly brown. Curious, but no line-crosser; a blender-in. Life in small, tight spaces, condensed heavens (or eternal ones, if the fairies have their say). But back to wrens, to the feathered belly-laughs of children, bouncing and hide-and-seeking in rocky, mossy, fallen-log regions of the shadowy wood. Quiet places. Places passed over, underappreciated. Nearly forgotten if not for the presence and eternal song of the Winter Wren. Winter Wren by Scott Somershoe (From the book HEARTVINES )

Up from the riverbank, through the low leaves, a tiny sun rises, reflected in drops of morning dew. Prothonotary Warbler by Julie Long (From the book HEARTVINES )

Red-winged Blackbird by Brendon Lake (From the book HEARTVINES )

If I’m paying attention at all there is beauty in the dawn, a rising whisper that reaches out and invites me in. Today I’ve become quite aware of it, the beauty evident in the robin singing proudly of his fledglings; in the long branches of pine, breeze-                                                        bouncing as if playing piano; in the blue sky exhaling its sunrise colors... I could go on, but one likes to get back to such dawns before they’re gone. Wait, what is that? Hold a second...  The dawn has come up to the window. Yes, in color and song it is saying Into me  all of you are welcome to take part. (From the book HEARTVINES )

 Minnow drawing by Kelly Sturner (From the book HEARTVINES )

Sunlight flows out like a tide... A blade of prairie grass arcs             to                         earth beneath a black-and-yellow shape. Witchity, witchity, witchity... Tiny bandit skulks through day’s ending light. (From the book HEARTVINES ) Common Yellowthroat by Graham Gerdeman

Butterfly artwork by Susan Sturner (From the book HEARTVINES )