Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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An Invitation

Uncategorized / September 21, 2018 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Neil wanders the world in awe – Mirrors and metaphor everywhere. You can join him on this journey with a Poem in your Inbox every day. CLICK HERE to start today

A Mary Oliver Question

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry / September 22, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

ou don’t want to hear the story of my life,
and anyway I don’t want to tell it.
Mary Oliver – Dogfish

Mary Oliver writes poems that are not about her

In the poems there are
black bears and wild geese
and dogfish and starfish and sharks
and even a few clams

There are herons and owls
red-tailed hawks, black snakes
and fawns and does and dogs

The black bears and wild geese
the alligators and the sunflowers
and even the cracked walls say

“These poems are not about us either”

I have to ask - are they about you?

Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay

Poet All Stars

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry / September 20, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The odds are overwhelming

Every time we play the game
with the all time all world all star team

Homer, Whitman, Rumi and Omar Khayyam
Wordsworth, Shakespeare (or whoever wrote his stuff)

It's like always battling against Nolan Ryan on his best day
Like trying to strike out Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth (without a hangover) and Reggie Jackson in October

Great poets never tire or retire, they just die
and still play with their best stuff

Soccer players today don't have to play Péle every day
But with translations and free agents we write up against Neruda, Viello and Paz

Or heads up against Leo Tolstoy and Anna Ackmanova with an East German Judge

But we play

Killing Covid with Kindness

Audio Recordings / tagged Covid19, Vaccine / September 18, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Take the jab from the lab
be the love behind the mask

The life you save may be mine
the life I save may be yours

If everyone sings that song
it won’t be long, it won’t be long

Add a chorus of care if you can
for those who can’t or who won’t

At the Olds Ramada

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Connection, Gathering, Sewing, Women / September 17, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

One more men don't get
buzzing from a quilting bee
love in every stitch

For Ailana

Audio Recordings, Relationships, Remembering, Travel / tagged Hawaii / September 16, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

That aloha itch
conjuring back the islands
with Reyn Spooner shirt

Rockport Wink

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Gulf of Mexico, Sunrise, Texas / September 15, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Old Injuries

Audio Recordings, Ranch Life / tagged Aging, Pain / September 14, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Living with
what didn’t kill you outright

Sayings like
it makes you stronger

little comfort in the morning

Them

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Relationships / September 13, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

A four letter word
that puts all others to shame
who are we to blame

Under The Porch

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Dogs, Unconditional Love / September 12, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The thing about parents is they see you as they'd like you to be, and you ain't
The thing about teachers and coaches is they see you getting all those A's and scoring on every play, and you c'aunt
The thing about dogs is
Hey quit lickin' on my face you fool

Small Town – Grade Seven

Audio Recordings, Remembering / tagged Community / September 11, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In a town of six or seven hundred you get a cross section of the country
One classmate's father's suicide
with shotgun splattered walls
One boy my age, drowned
in an upturned truck in a muddy ditch
One with leukaemia, white as the snow
One redhead, Leslie French, as beautiful and mysterious as the language
One blonde, Shriley Long to long for
She's only interested in grade 9 boys
One bruised heart
Not yet hard enough to be broken

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A Mary Oliver Question
Poet All Stars
Killing Covid with Kindness
At the Olds Ramada
For Ailana

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