Ranch Life – Page 2 – Neil Meili

Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Category: Ranch Life

Trying to Imagine an Imaginary Friend

Audio Recordings, Family, Nostalgia, Ranch Life / tagged Childhood, imagination, Play / October 10, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

(for the Marcil Brothers)

Never had one as a kid
which could be attributed to
a lack of imagination or space

I make up it was the latter
every house we had was plenty full of and we did make up stories after dark
and take the parts of local heroes
who drove big trucks and drove them fast

If any of the sibs had a pretend co-pilot
they never let on as they careened
full speed and filled the room with
kicked up gravel on their way to fame

Jeep

Audio Recordings, Family, Ranch Life, Remembering, Travel / October 9, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Dad had a Willys Jeep
That took us to school for a while

In the wet it was wet, in the cold it was cold

Our baby teeth bounced from our jaws
And bruises covered every bum

We knew that it was built for war – it felt like war

Back-Door-Quick-Steps

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life / tagged Bathroom, Humor, Latrine, Toilet / October 8, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The outhouse was
a hundred paces from the door
twice as long in winter

Language to describe the trip
as colourful as the orange wrappers
a seasonal break from catalogue pages

The pace of our trips
dependent on diet or minor disease
we even had some words for these
worthy enough to be a title of a poem

Image by Darya-Greengrey from Pixabay

Full Moon at Weaning Time

Audio Recordings, Cattle, Cows, Farm, Nature, Ranch Life / October 7, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Cows, calves and coyotes
full throat under moon all night
Nobody sleeping at the ranch

Prompt credit: Wally Meili

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

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Kinda like that better than the shining lights of Vegas
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Hi Neil! And Neil is still Neil! Hoping to see you and Dorsey in the new year. My poems have…
Nancy Fierstien on Don’t Judge A House By Its CoverDecember 3, 2025
Another terse verse way to capture the way I feel about living under a blue tin roof for almost 30…
Iudita Harlan on Longing for FamilyNovember 26, 2025
Neil Lovely poem. Sending love to you and Darcy. Iudita
Nancy Fierstien on Eyes of FriendsNovember 6, 2025
Lovin' this one, line after line!

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