Author Jay Sturner

CONTENTS About Love Fresh Morning I Love You Holding Hands (a simple pleasure) A Holiday for the Heart When I Am Loved By You Morning Rain These Things Love and Words Could You Stay the Night, Forever?

I walk past laughing lovers. No need to know what was funny. (From the book Wilderness & Love )

Morning untangles her silver blue hair from the sepia thorns of complacent night. The moors, the mountains, the rivers, the seas . . . All bow in the wake of her stirring.   People throw open their shutters and children run out to play. All is well and time is kind; our hearts have suddenly come to life.   We kiss in the tall, wavy grass as the morning light flows around us. I am the sunrise, you are the sun— We are one.   Twilight pirouettes into the sky and spirals beyond our curious sight. My heart, my soul, my envious eyes . . . They watch diamonds fall from your smile.   People swing closed their shutters and tired children saunter home. All is well and time is still kind; our love has suddenly come to life.   We sleep in the tall, wavy grass as the daylight flows quietly away. You are the sunset, I am the sun— We are one.  

Dreams of a Garden for Kelly K. Moran   Always, in nightly dreams of you, two eternal worlds shine, side by side.   Where they meet blooms a garden, down the center flows a stream.   No borders show by the flowers that grow, and skies of all seasons blend overhead.   Here, where the sun sets inside its rising, our heaven takes the shape of a promise: to love each other always.

We were defining what it was to love without touch.

You laugh, and the world unfolds. Light falls like rain, stains the dark. I’m helpless, without speech; your soul becomes the blue of my eyes. Forgive me if I stray— To you. You smile, and no wars ever were. You hold time in place, erase the hands. I’m overcome, filled with adoration; my soul becomes the brown of your eyes. Forgive me if I write these words— To you. You speak, and the otter shakes a whisker. You enchant me, a sea horse ballet. And I swim, deep where tears shed; now my poetry breathes under oceans. Forgive me if I expose my heart— To you.   (From the book Kairos )

Morning—delicate thirsty the sky yawns earth stretches . . . You near the ending of a peaceful, romantic dream. The silence of night subsides, you open your eyes— two emeralds shine beneath the sun. Another day is born, another morning blessed. Such simple truths are easily told by the existence of you. Night—romantic alive the stars shine earth sighs . . . You smile and all things are curious— a shooting star passes over your essence. Another twilight has come, another night takes the stage. Standing ovations are easily understood by the existence of you. I hear them . . . I hear them whenever I'm around you— the subtle, graceful heartbeats of angels. They surround you like butterflies gone mad. And all my love for this world, all my love for beauty, for nature; all my love for life was awakened by the existence of you.   (From the book Kairos )

Wind and rain. Silent flowers under thunder. She tends the garden by staring through the window. A downpour of thoughts mix daydreams and doubt, splash in her mind and channel off. The green in her eyes runs down her cheeks like unripe berries falling and bouncing from sight. She’s waiting for new scenery with laughter in her pockets. The hair across her shoulders sleeps. And the heartbeat beneath her skin waits patiently for his kiss.

As she closes her eyes for the night her lashes mingle and dreams begin behind them. Fireflies lead her across a garden he has grown her as a wind full of whimsy lifts her hair down. She steps out of a pink negligee, igniting her skin with the goose bumps he’ll conquer with an embrace. And her beauty commands the killing of a flock of clocks: Victor Hugo writes one last poem by coffin candlelight; a blind man sees his wife while reading it in Braille— The aurora borealis falls in love with a rainbow; nature sends a new species of butterfly into the world— Scarlet tanagers drop rose petals over the ocean; hands of sunlight push lovers face to face— But before that first kiss the locusts cause an eclipse. As he tosses and turns in white sheets werewolves crawl in from the shadows. Fireflies explode in the wilting garden as a sky full of bats pull her hair up. But it’s only a dream, Only a dream , she says as she wakes him quietly with an ...

Love Will Glue These Br-oken Pi–ece-s / She was new again, like she’d been born again, but with the knowledge. Like she had walked down from a mountain: cool skin, fresh thought, light eyes, and a fire burning for life. The past was secondary now. All the old romances turned dust-worthy. All the doubt dispersed. She was ready to face the world with open arms; to follow every step she took into a forward, sun-splashed direction. Love would not shove her away, not anymore—it was her ambition to curl up in its silky arms. It was her walk towards paradise, her vintage wine longing for a taste—and she could taste it now, on the lips of her subconscious; it was bittersweet, like strawberries. “I love myself. I love my life. Love surrounds me and love will follow me.” She spoke those words at every corner of every day. They launched her over obstacles with painless effort. Mental wounds healed without scars. The moon, the stars, and the sun smiled down. If it stormed, the rains w...

He floats on green sea, sky softens eyes twilight blue. Fish set course for curious, jump like finned rainbows. The heart ventured at daybreak, went searching with sail; anchored soul waits for resurrection, swirls with dreams. Apart since sunrise, he’s been at opposite ends of her hour. Life sleeps on shore, sunset bends towards fiction. Love has splashed her, soaked the heart with promises; angelic soul lifts, maiden albatross flies. He waits, she will come— and they will swim down together.   (From the book Kairos )

A moment is riding time like a horse over the hill bringing strength— A moment is floating through time like a ship across the sea bringing wealth— There is a moment tossed by a fairy’s whim, blown forward by her breath, and carried away to find us. There is a moment set aside for you and me, but it may take awhile as these things do, my love. It may take awhile as these things do. Our moment is conquering time like a white flag rising ending battle— Our moment is drawing near like a heart breaking chains ending restraint—   (From the book Kairos )

Together in the Pacific Northwest— Swept up by scenery and plucked from stress & sadness; fishbone clouds swimming, swimming… We’re cruising, crossing hemlock rivers— Dippers diving between the rocks, a current stretching into forever. Tonight, as we lie in bed beneath stars, my eyes will end at you— The landscape of home; a full circle of wilderness & love. (From the book Wilderness & Love )

What We Are It's more than "I need you." Merely that doesn't send enough love to our hearts. It's more than "I love you." Our souls know the journey goes far beyond words. It's this (yet more than; a poet can only go so far) — We are the shining light in the palm of a god.

And soft, like thoughts on snowy evenings. The amber fire inside her warms me. She is filled with sympathy; cries out when injustice sets fire to the world. She's a subtle understanding, like Braille across the enigma of wounds in the heart. And though unseen, her soul is lucid. A poetic ideal I've always wished to become. And bright, like clouds on snowy evenings. The amber light inside her calms me. She is filled with symphony; sings out when justice takes hold in the world. She's my one true understanding. A quiet hand reaching for mine when my head is low, when I need love… On a snowy evening. In the amber glow. (From the book Wilderness & Love )

A folding of your wings; home from gliding across the clouds. You’re weeping— you’ve discovered that eternity exists. Now you understand why we hurt so badly: You saw love without its veil, and the gossamer threads which lift you, which pull you straight down; which brought us together, which tossed us apart. But we’re still in love. We always have been. We’re only transforming our love into something new, into something better. Hence our lonely days, our poetic hearts; in separate beds, in perpetual dark. I once had wings and that same urge to fly. And I did, and I stood at the edge, and I wept your same tears. Yes, I once had wings too— who do you think gave them to you?

for Kelly K. Moran A cold front arrived in Chicago yesterday, and life was lulled into a wintry nap. I wear the brown scarf you made for me, stand in front of yellow witch-hazel in the snow. Here I pace the line between reverence and concern, thinking how hard it must be to survive in the cold. I turn and gather these thoughts while rubbing my hands together. The wind shakes the trees and I must go to you— There, I will keep you warm . . . Each day, until the leaves return. Snow-covered Witch Hazel by Jay Sturner (From the book  Wilderness & Love )

Morning Rain for Kelly K. Moran This morning there was much rain, forcing the birds into trees, the butterflies beneath leaves. I stand at the open window, listening for the cool silence between raindrops. I begin to wonder about time machines, about being fully absorbed into the future: The full view of a sunset from our porch chairs, a cat resting at our feet. Faces aged, a hand holding a hand.   And the wind comes down from flowered hills, filling the home with fragrances. Everything is golden orange like a softly glowing jewel.            I blink and turn from the window. Another routine day begins. The echoes of my heartbeat will mingle with the rain. (From the books Selected Poems 2004-2007   and  10 Love Poems )

Wrapped in the fireplace of your arms. Warmed by the trust in your smile. The night and our love Are acquainted. You cuddle close and feel my heart. I brush your hair away from your face. The window and the rain Are old friends. Soft candle- light washes over our skin, soft music over our repose. The ambiance and timing Couldn't be better. I look down at you, you're falling asleep. I kiss your forehead and whisper, Sleep well . With eyes closed, you sigh and reply, Then don't go . (From the books Selected Poems 2004-2007  and  10 Love Poems )

These Things for Kelly K. Moran I have longed to be the quiet, fading light that helps you sleep; and sunrise through the open door. I've stayed awake for hours, wondering how I could channel the most beautiful things through your eyes, and into your heart. I have wished to be the warm, child-long summer that stirs your playful curiosity; and dreams across the long winter. For a time I doubted I could be any of these things, or the myriad others that fill my head each day. But the stronger my life bonds with yours, the less I doubt my abilities, the more revealed is my part. With love, all possibility follows; it follows me, it follows you. And all these things wished for are already true. ( From the books Selected Poems 2004-2007  and  10 Love Poems )