The Fish Wade in the water
Through the gleaming rock.
Not a trace of time
As you glance up at me—
I cannot read it.

You slip
Beneath the surf, beneath
The golden curtains
Of sunlight,
And that’s good.
All that is is good.
You should stay.
I want to remain,
Where water is where you are!

In the circle of water,
A thread of life
Is netted in bright black.
Other fish, bent to their fate,
But I long to reach—
How do you feel
In this deep world?
I am breathless for you—
Banished from the above!
Please stay,
Where fish are,
And shadow warms the skin.

• Marianne Moore