#FirstSentences No. 3

A black and white photo of a jellyfish fully stretched out, perhaps laid against a table. The caption reads: 'Siphonophoran Jellyfish; (Portuguese Man-O-War); Physalia physalis; Tropical Atlantic.'
Current-borne, wave-flung, tugged hugely by the whole might of ocean, the jellyfish drifts in the tidal abyss. The light shines through it, and the dark enters it.

From Ursula Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven, Ch. 3.


Image attribution: Exhibit case in Hall of Life in the Sea at Museum of Natural History, featuring "Siphonophoran Jellyfish." Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. Link.

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This post was first created on Aug 26, 2025.

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