Ranch Life – Neil Meili

Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Category: Ranch Life

Plain as Plains

Audio Recordings, Nature, Ranch Life / September 2, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The sun does not rise or set
midst peaks of mountain pageantry

nor crown like a baby's head
or drop like a gemstone into the sea

But dusk or dawn we sit
wearing what we're wearing
and quietly making the best of it

In the Beginning

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry, Ranch Life / tagged Birth / August 24, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Small town doctor
tired and out of sorts
resenting a 3:00 am delivery
and snapping at his helping nurse

Stands little in awe of the first born son
come to save the ranch

One wonders if the promise of a poet
would have outweighed his desire for his bed

Hospital in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan

One for the Aunties

Audio Recordings, Family, Ranch Life / August 3, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Who midwifed my father into the world
in a packing crate shack in 1912

And washed up and went home
without mentioning
the blessed event to the government
(and no one else did either)

Forty years later he applies for a passport
and finds that he does not exist

Until they swear on their memory
and bring him into the world again

1 Reply

First Art Project

Audio Recordings, Family, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Art & Artists, Discipline, Discouragement / July 29, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Working with Father

Audio Recordings, Cattle, Family, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Chores, Work / July 28, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In the short days of a long winter
we sort nuts, bolt, and washers
against the busy days of summer

Place them in well-marked bins
accompanied always by his mentor's
Never waste five dollars worth of time
looking for a five cent bolt

The 9/16th fine-threads do not go in
with the regular or coarse

When you're four
it's not hard to geet up
at four to ride in the cattle truck to the city with your dad
excitement keeps you awake all night

There are know you need to know
reef, sheepshank, and the ever popular bowline that can still be undone even after looping a red bull weighing a ton

Hood the twine around your little finger just so, in a way that I could never get, three turns and knot the gunny sack in two seconds flat

Heel that calf, or turn the herd
drive the truck at the perfect speed
to catch the combine on the fly

There is a great deal of pleasure in doing something right, when right is the only way anything should ever be done

But never far, even yet
from the red-black cloud
of doing it wrong

The Magic of Moose Jaw

Audio Recordings, Cattle, Cows, Family, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Relationships, Travel / July 27, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Who could sleep the night before
going to town in the truck with Dad

Him and me in the front
white faced cows in the back
mooing it clear they wanted to stay
as much as I wanted to go

There would be the stockyards
and building bigger than a barn
and lunch at the Harwood Hotel
veal cutlets for him, burger for me

Two men together, five and thirty five
one driving home in the afternoon sun
one curled up on the seat

For Mary Who Loves Horses

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Boundries, Freedom / July 26, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I have ridden the fence line
without believing in fences

I have been one with the movement of horse
the strength and speed of horse
the grace of horse and the
soul of horse

I have been one with the wind
and the high rolling hills
and the sky

I have stepped down
with my hands filled with staples and pliers

For the welfare of cattle and neighbours
who still have need of believing
in fences

Poets, Pilots & Cowboys

Audio Recordings, Cowboy Poetry, Flight, Pilots, Poems about Poetry, Ranch Life / July 24, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

A poet will try to dissect the world
and he'll try to show you each part
and he'll write it all down with a pen
that he's dipped in an old carin' heart

While pilots hae the eyes of a hawk
and a strut in the way that they walk
and they give all that's in them to give
and they live every moment they live

And most cowboys are gentle not loud
and they're not all that good in a crowd
and they talk like they're about half asleep
but what they know boys and girls
they know deep

Don’t Worry Mate

Audio Recordings, Cattle, Cowboy Poetry, Cows, Farm, Ranch Life, Travel / tagged Humor / June 26, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Listening to Rain in Saskatchewan

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nature, Ranch Life, Travel / tagged Home, Hope, Nourishment / June 18, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

It had rained
and it was raining
and it was going to rain

He has seen and heard rain
in many countries of the world
including the rain in Spain

This was not that rain

This was the rain of childhood
the rain of a young farmer
praying with his first field of flax

This was the rain
of 4 a.m. with his father
who got up with the summer sun
whether the sun got up or not
and made sure that you did too

A different father than yesterday
with sweat-caked furrowed brow

This was rain to nourish
your skin and bones and soul
and you can still only hear it here

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Sandi Hebley on How Fallen AngelsAugust 17, 2025
Indeed!
Nancy Fierstien on Unremember ThatAugust 16, 2025
Gonna be inclined to share this one at my Poets' Tea reading tomorrow afternoon. Thanks, Neil!
Sandi Hebley on Memory Lane JoggingAugust 5, 2025
Lovely!
Sandi Hebley on Dad and Death at WarAugust 4, 2025
😢
Sandi Hebley on One for the AuntiesAugust 3, 2025
Wow!

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