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

Tibor From Hungary

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Resistance, Soccer, Sport / July 19, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In Budapest in 2018
we see bullet holes from ‘56
made by Tibor shooting at Russians
or by Russians shooting at him

Tibor escaped the Russian wrath
attended school at Notre Dame
and did his best to teach us soccer

At first we were in awe of his skill
at running full speed with a ball
attached to his feet and leaving
us flat-footed in his wake
until we gave up and just tackled him

World Cup finals today; everyone thinking soccer.

Poet All Stars

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry / tagged Comparison, Competition, Excellence, Literature, Perseverence, Sports / July 18, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The odds are overwhelming

Every time we play the game
we find ourselves on a level field
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 batting 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 wiht their best stuff

Soccer players today don't have to play Pelé 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

The Little Dutch Boy Writes Poetry

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry, String Too Short To Save / July 17, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Only a drop of two
and only from time to time
but you can feel the weight
of the whole North Sea behind it

Becoming the Sea

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Personal Growth / tagged Change, Identity / July 16, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Becoming the sea
I thought that I thought something
then I wasn't shore

Lost at Sea

Audio Recordings / tagged Aging, Death, Decline, Disease / July 15, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Uncles, aunts, old friends and more
all sinking below the metaphor
on the way to that distant shore

The keel hauling of cancer
Walking Gehrig's plank with ALS

Handing from the yardarm
of emphysema's choking rope

The lighting stroke of stroke

The sudden iceberg of heart attack

The slow arctc crush of hoary old age
or slowly sailing, deeper and deeper
into Alzheimers' fog-bound banks

There are a thousand ways
to get back to the launching line

Not sure I'm ready to speculate on mine

1 Reply

Aunt Eileen

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Connections, Death, Grief / July 14, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The death of my aunt
came when I had been at the sea
and my pores were open

She entered quickly

Dragging shadows of other deaths
aunts, uncles, father, friends

All loud with the clanking
of the chains that still bind

Crumbs

Audio Recordings, Nostalgia, Remembering / tagged Memory, Taste, Technology / July 13, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Companies install
cookies in your computer
to remember where you’ve been

It’s not that new a concept

When Proust took his first bite
of the now famous petit madeleine
like his aunt had served in his youth

Everything came rushing back

Europe on the Train

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Remembering, Travel / tagged Food, memories / July 12, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Europe on the train
French bread, cheese and cheap red wine
crumbs always remain

Trains I Haven’t Been On

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Movies, Regrets / July 11, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Train to Toronto

Audio Recordings, Travel / tagged Communication, English, French, Humor / July 10, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Bi-jovial porter
ties two cultures
with language of laughter

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Eda Lishman on Lost at SeaJuly 16, 2026
Oh, Neil: This reflection sure hits the times we are a-living. Each day and night those of us who are…
Sandi Hebley on Eagle Bone WhistleJuly 6, 2026
Beautiful!!
Sandi Hebley on The Merry Go Roller Coaster RoundJuly 2, 2026
*Sigh!*
Anonymous on The Merry Go Roller Coaster RoundJuly 2, 2026
Yes, those rides did end too soon!
Sandi Hebley on Learning from GrandparentsJune 30, 2026
🤗

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