Oh Yes...And Stars Poem by edward lilley

I give to you these held wishes and realized dreams.
Here are berries, pods, rocks and cobs
Beginnings, endings, husks and shells
Outside, inside, guts and skin
From ocean froth and slatted light of barns
Shriveled, swelling, bark and seeds
These have been witness to the rolling laughter
And the deep valleys of my life.
Named and nameless, stained with days
I saved the marrow here for you.

And woven through it all
The blessed light of mornnings, paths and people
Friends, whom I hold to me
Like cherished armloads of sweetgrass.
You. You are here beside the feather, bone and fin.
There wrapping round the Queen Anne's Lace.
Here in branch of Christmas, claw of crab,

And sometimes seen and often hidden
I am here
And all my wishes held for you
Like silky stars
Waiting in the winked eye of milkweed pod.
Cones, nuts, ears, and lips
Together all are here.
I send you a salad of my days
Smelling of a thousand times I've stopped in the path and said
'Halleluiah! Look what life has given me! ...
Oh yes, and a thousand silky stars, like wishes waiting...