Neve's Nest

Desire

by

Mary Oliver

So long as I am hanging on

I want to be young and noble.

I want to be bold.

So said the great buck, named Swirler,

as he stepped like a king past me the week

before he was arrow-killed.

And so said the wren in the bush after

another hard year of love, of nest-life, of

singing.

And so say I early morning, just before

sunrise,

wading the edge of the dark ocean.