SECOND HONEYMOON
It is my mother’s birthday
she has barely made it to
88
Not one infinity sign but two
I see her from behind
standing again with my father at the altar
Author Archives: neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com
THAT MAKES SENSE
THAT MAKES SENSE
My father comes in a dream
to answer an unspoken objection
with unapologetic simple fact
that it wasn’t capacity he lacked
but the time for introspection
A PICTURE POEM
A PICTURE POEM
Mid afternoon, mid December
American Airlines from Dallas
drops into Calgary with the snow
Soft flakes fall as we rent the car
stop as we drive north into
an Ansel Adams world
Sky pillowed gray on gray
Houses and barns and bales
covered in white powder
Trees all a-bloom with hoary frost
both sides of the coal black road
For the next hour
any picture we take with color film
would still come out black and white
Until we top the overpass and see from a
horizon that was not a horizon
the rising of a Mandarin Orange moon
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
Scarlet, peppermint, ebony
their harmonious delight
a new dawn of wonder racing
down the highways of my sight
A powerful hilarious tipping
of rods and traffic cones
up onto the sidewalk
by the yellow door
I have never been able
to restore them again
to their simple order
And Catherine Deneuve
didn’t help
WHALE’S TALES
WHALE’S TALES
The poems of whales
still rhyme
and are often
mistaken for song
Each year at about this time
a cacophony of competition
disturbs the elders
and the waters
Once the poem for the year is chosen
and all have learned it by heart
they return to their largeness
FOR WILLIAM CARLOS
FOR WILLIAM CARLOS
So much hinges
on a red door in the rain
BIRTH OF HAIKU
BIRTH OF HAIKU
Basho oh Basho
frog’s leap kissing water
wakens the prince
AUSTIN AGAIN
AUSTIN AGAIN
Whenever I’m in Austin
I’m in a skin that feels like home
scratch me anywhere you’ll find a poem
THINKING WITH DICK
THINKING WITH DICK
Chaney thought, or said he did
that the people of Iraq
would welcome us with open arms
For protection we would need
no Kevlar vests or armored up Humvees
Probably just a few of these
for the grateful women of Baghdad
before us on their knees
HAMMAS BOO BOO
HAMMAS BOO BOO
Encouraging democracy alone won’t do
next time remember to send
voting machines too