The Pink Lungs of Their Bodies

. . . But all my life--sofar-- 
I have loved best
how the flowers rise
and open, how

the pink lungs of their bodies
enter the fore of the world
and stand there shining
and willing--the one

thing they can do before
they shuffle forward
into the floor of darkness, they
become the trees.


- excerpt from Moccasin Flowers by Mary Oliver