OUT OF AFRICA
Our relatively recent relatives
driven north by fear
or hunger
traded some pigment
for access to
vitamin D
No small thing of course
(survival wise)
but nothing to get too uppity
about either
Author Archives: neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com
THE SUNDAY-GO-MEETING SUIT
THE SUNDAY-GO-MEETING SUIT
It only took but one
and it usually came in brown
for marryin in and buryin in
and going off to town
The pants they came in two’s
to double the life and use
each shining like an aura
from those well worn wooden pews
STONES
STONES
Every spring
like a teenager before the prom
frost popped zits
covering the face of the land
and we go picking
DREAMS OF SAFETY
DREAMS OF SAFETY
Over the wall where fires burning
a black cloud rolling
Out of a black cloud rolling
a rainbow beaming
Out of a rainbow beaming
raindrops falling
Each drop to its color
clinging
Crystal gemstones
shining
falling
DREAM SHIP
DREAM SHIP
In the dream
a friend of a friend
has come to his end
on a ship in the year
that they never once touched land
So poignant it seems in the dream
so sad that he died so far from his home
that I run in search of paper and pen
to write a properly honoring poem
But you know how it is, or maybe you don’t
in dreams, and dreams within dreams as well
that, no-way, no-win cement-footed hell
where every last paper that I can find
already has writing on every side
and even after elbowing
other dreams to the side
and trying as hard
as I can to hold on
I emerge at dawn
words gone
WALDEN POND
WALDEN POND
Springtime in the center
of a Walden Pond of sound
Small frog leaps in
fish jumps
Log rolls in from bank
beaver slaps his tail
Four swans float by
wakes overlapping
Pecan drops from
an overhanging tree
Water-fly skims
wood duck cycles wingtips
Pocahontas dips a paddle
I float
EARLY MORNING, DECEMBER, CALGARY
EARLY MORNING, DECEMBER, CALGARY
The neighbors called
as neighbors will
To report Roberta
age four
in the front yard
making a snowman
A reasonable thing to do
as quickly as possible
after seven inches
of new wet snow
And dressed adequately
for the task
High boots and warm mitts
and nothing else
FALL AND WINTER
FALL AND WINTER
Dry winds hurry
little brown leaf-birds along
November streets
****************
The year is ending
first snow falls on last leaves
icing on the cake
MY UNCLE SHOT MY DOG
MY UNCLE SHOT MY DOG
My uncle shot my dog
My ever loving, ever loyal
saved me from the coyotes
went back to the ranch to
lead my parents to me
stuck in the mud – just
like in the movies –
Lassie dog
My uncle shot my dog
Maybe she had took to bitin’ people
if she did, I’m sure they had it coming
Maybe she’d got to eatin’ the chickens
if she did, she’d earned every one
Maybe she was old and sick and hurtin’
maybe she was better off dead
than alive
I don’t remember anyone saying that
but I doubt it would’ve helped
Not when it’s your best friend
and you’re five
My uncle shot my dog
My uncle shot my dog
and went to his grave
unforgiven
Maybe I can get it done
before I go to mine
FOR JEANNE
FOR JEANNE
It is April twentieth
two thousand and eight
Jeanne Guthrie died today
or stepped on a rainbow
as Kinky would say
The e-mail said
they took her off life support
Hell, she was life support
as everyone who knew her knew
for all family, friends, poets
and strays of every cry and hue
Yes, I loved her, as so many loved her
Texas sized heart and humor too
And must admit I loved
how much she loved
one line of my poetry
It is the line in “Winter in The Barn”
where; Kittens wait by a tin plate
to put their morning moustache on
She said it was her favourite line
in this whole wide world
I wonder if she will take it
with her into the next
Or will it remain in the book
Just another book
in a big box of books
packed off to Goodwill
The milk drying