Author Jay Sturner

On the battlefield butterflies carry away the last bloody bullets. Ravens guide the limp gray souls. Civilizations crack and split apart, granulate beneath the verdant march of biological time. Nature is like that. Man was like that. On the reclamation sites butterflies carry in seeds of barley and wheat. Ravens guide the eager new souls. Civilizations hatch and crawl forth, mutate within the whimsical fires of innovation. Nature is like that. Upright whales are like that. First published in  Star*Line  in 2023.

Met a fellow botanist today in the amber swamps of Teegarden b, deep in Valley X. Now we’re together, trapped in the iridescent belly of a pitcher plant: Swapping photos of home worlds and loved ones                as our spacesuits slowly dissolve. First published in  Star*Line in 2022.

Inspired by the theory that cosmic branes (of a multiverse) can touch and influence one another Their “kiss” lasted but one millionth of a second, though truly timeless and spared of angels; a mere gleam in the dreaming eye of Pan; the first quiver of life in primordial ooze. A singularity popped off the tongue of a howling black hole, expanded where nascent gods toss rose petals over looping, cosmic currents, shot plasma-fire blue into the nothing of our universe— a universe silent as an ash-covered opera—until the chaos of cooling atoms induced space-time and spark, lending symphonic gravity to the tenacity of evolution, to the intangibles of consciousness. (From the books Wilderness & Love and  The Hunchback's Captive and Others )

“Those who linger long in false reflections run the risk of soul abandonment.” – Future proverb   Out of the ad space—today’s woman: Flawless skin. Hair a curtain shot to heaven in waves of synthetic color. Angled, porcelain white cheeks, carmine blush, gilded lashes, breasts robust and firm. Thin-thighed Aphrodite . The pixels of her eyes stream elite parties. A glamorous you .   Out of the ad space—today’s man: Perfect 5 o’clock. Metrosexual stud hair in waves of combat colors. Chiseled, masculine face, tan skin, winning smile, chest wide and strong. Designer-jeaned Adonis. The pixels of his eyes stream quixotic adventures. A gallant you .   Out of the ad space—today’s marketing: Target everyone. Categorize customers in waves of insecurity, vanity, fallow lives. Scan pupils. Upload to optic nerves: pricing, privacy, promise of PERFECTION. Narcissus-headed Cerberus. The pixels of its eyes stream fallen empires. An ersatz society.