Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: pets

A Manx’s Tale

Audio Recordings / tagged Cats, Death, Grief, Love, Mourning, pets / April 2, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

There's nothing as strong or as fragile as life
And nothing soft as a kitten's purr

And I'm awake and I'm sad and it's three in the morning
And it's Mother's Day and she doesn't even live in kittens

She and Jane would curl up together while I stayed up and wrote or worked or worried
Later I'd slip quietly into the warmth of
steady breathing and the soft blanket
of sound it rested on

In the night (not fickle but generous) she would go from bed to bed and bring to each of the children the comfort they might need
and lay down the same soft cushions for their sweet dreams

I don't know what her life was, or where it's gone or how to say thanks
and I can't sleep

It's two days now since she's been around
and the bedroom echoes
with the absence of her sound

Another for the Cat

Audio Recordings, Nature / tagged Cats, pets, Spring, Wild Animals / April 1, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

It's spring again
and the cat won't stay in
feralmones must be kicking in

Photo credit: James Bullock with thanks to Lady Grey

1 Reply

One for the Cat

Audio Recordings / tagged Aging, Cats, pets / March 31, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Buffy at fourteen
down to only two speeds
catnap and catnip

Black Beauty

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Cats, pets / March 29, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

When we moved to Grandfather's old farm
no on had been living there for a while
and all the cats had gone wild

We found a litter of kittens
hidden deep in a corner of the loft
and among them
the most beautiful black and white kitten

Spitting and crouching under the eaves
she scratched all of us to the bone
If I'd been a tree there would
have been six rings

Much persistence we got her out
much time and love and we tamed her
if one every really tames a cat

Best cat ever
adopted by our cousins when we moved
and one of the things we most looked forward to on our visits was Black Beauty and her newest of who knew how many litters

The tomcats in that town were also
excelled judges of beauty

Dervil

Audio Recordings / tagged Cats, Intelligence, pets, Reincarnation / March 28, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Dervil was the only cat
I ever knew with opposable thumbs

He didn't really have them
but you could see
that he remembered them
from a recent incarnation
as a slightly lower life form

Studiously unrolling the roll and flushing it down the toilet

Standing tall to grasp and turn
handles on the doors

About Beauty

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Appreciation, Cats, pets / March 27, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The thing
about beauty is everything

There were angel wing
clouds in the sky driving home
and there was home

Cats have nine lives
and three sets of eyelids

Is it pity for our poorness
when they look at us that way

Dog Years

Audio Recordings / tagged Aging, pets / February 18, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The dog
grows old beside us

Same distance
at a greater pace

And teaches us by not
giving it much thought

Image by z75217 from Pixabay

2 Replies

Galumphing Through the Snow

Audio Recordings / tagged Dogs, Freedom, pets, Play, Winter / December 27, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Dogs without sleds leap loosely
a hound abound brings smiles to all

A House Without A Dog

Audio Recordings / tagged Comfort, Dogs, Home, pets, Unconditional Love / December 8, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

A house without a dog is never truly warm
no matter what the thermostat says

A house however with a dog
is like a court with no judge or jury
Everyone gets the benefit of the doubt
and an ear scrath
by the bailiff gets you out

Dogs and Boys

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Dogs, History, Love, pets / May 16, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Twenty thousand years
they walked the plains together

The boy did not know that
The dog did not know that

Or did they

Photo of author’s Uncle Bruce with Pepper circa 1928

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Evie shafner on MagdaleneApril 6, 2026
Beautiful
Sandi Hebley on Another for the CatApril 1, 2026
🤣🤣🤣
Eda Lishman on How I Lost My Faith – In PreachersMarch 3, 2026
An epic moment for seven year olds! Wow how many lessons can you have in one incident? And a few…
Nancy Fierstien on A Tear for the RichFebruary 23, 2026
Another gem worth it's weight in gold from you, Neil Meili!
Sandi Hebley on Lonely LightFebruary 12, 2026
How sweet!

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