Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

Skip to content

Home
Contact
Neil’s Books
Poems
Kind Words
A Neil a Day Poems

Tag Archives: Birds

Waterfront

Audio Recordings / tagged Birds, Cost, Housing, Location / August 14, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In the city you pay
a million for
al lot along the shore

Where the alkali flats
meet Wood River's lacks
of so much as a single tree
the mud hen builds for free

Reincarnation by Loon

Audio Recordings, Remembering / tagged Birds / August 9, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Now there's a sound
you could take anywhere
and remember
when you returned

The Joy of the Loon

Audio Recordings, Haiku / tagged Birds, Music, Water / August 8, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The joy of the loon
is in sadness of his song
Candle Lake at dawn

The Cry of the Loon

Audio Recordings, Haiku / tagged Birds, Water / August 7, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The cry of the loon
shatters the glass of the lake
V shard follows her

All Blackbirds

Audio Recordings, String Too Short To Save / tagged Birds / August 4, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

All blackbirds
are not black as jet

Here's one
King Midas kept as a pet

Yellow-Headed Blackbird pair near Old Wives Lake, Saskatchewan Photo courtesy of: Giselle Forest, Mossbank, Saskatchewan

Red-Winged Blackbird

Audio Recordings, Nature, Relationships / tagged Attraction, Birds / August 3, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Male birds dress in bright array
to sweep the lonesome girls away

Night-black crow in formal shine
to dignify the "Please be mine"

Parrot plumage easy seen
deep within the jungle green

While robin's red red breast
can incite the urge to nest

Magpie jesters there by half
if only you can make them laugh

Red-winged blackbird on a post
uniforms always catch the most

1 Reply

Prairie Chicken

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nature, Ranch Life / tagged Birds, Courage, Survival / July 8, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I came up through the valley where the homesteaders had tried to make a go of it for a few years, past the tin cans and other evidence of their short stay trying to rust itself back into the ground. Up over the crest of the hill where the Indians had lived for centuries with no more evidence than the weathered rocks of tepee rings

It was spring and I stumbled upon what they may have seen for centuries, the mating ceremony of about twenty-five or thirty grouse. They didn't see or hear me and I stopped about ten yards away and wathched (although my mother might not have thought it proper)

The hens ran around, heads down and tails up in unbashful invitation while the cocks puffed up the air bags in their chests and drummed their challenge

They looked handsome and brave in their posturing and beckoning and their readiness for reckoning and the fights were on, straight on and straight up with spurs and feathers flying

It was vicious but pure
Not a cockfight for the amusement of the bloody-minded, but a way to see that only the strongest would sire the little broods that would have to survive the hawks, and the snakes, and the weather; and all the dangers of a land where it takes a great deal of courage
- just to be a chicken

Robins Haiku

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Nature / tagged Birds, Spring / May 19, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The robins are back
red of breast and blue of egg
spring in every step

The Crow

Audio Recordings / tagged Birds, Death, Hunting, Youth / May 13, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Two boys and crow at fifty yards
two shots as one the crow fell still
we laughed and ran
whose hit whose miss
two holes in head
as close as this
0 0
the life was in our eyes and skill
too far from death to understand a kill

Eagle Eye at Eighteen

Audio Recordings / tagged Birds, Hunting, Regret / May 12, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The Golden Eagle hangs
on a string of grace
a hundred yards
to the west

I raise the 32-20
Winchester
and squeeze off
a shot

Dead hit in the breast
the string breaks and it drops

Quick voice in my head
Damn fine shot

Slow voice from my heart
Damn fool

1 Reply

Post navigation

← Older posts

Search

Neil’s Latest Book Available in Paperback and Large Print Edition though Amazon worldwide

Social

View zencowboypoet’s profile on Facebook
View @meilineil’s profile on Twitter
View neilmeili’s profile on Instagram

Want More Poetry? Sign Up Here.

Sandi Hebley on Holding Up the LineAugust 13, 2026
Awwww!
Joy on Reincarnation by CloudAugust 10, 2026
Watching clouds move across the sky, The way they did years ago, Growing up on the prarie, watching sky and…
Sandi Hebley on Red-Winged BlackbirdAugust 3, 2026
This is a good one!
Sandi Hebley on The Man in the Desert RemembersJuly 21, 2026
Wow!
JM on The Man in the Desert RemembersJuly 21, 2026
This one really hit home Thank you

Audio Recordings
Cattle
Cowboy Poetry
Cows
Environment
Family
Farm
Flight
Haiku
Limerick
Manure
Nature
News
Nostalgia
Personal Growth
Pilots
Poems about Poetry
Ranch Life
Relationships
Remembering
String Too Short To Save
Travel
Uncategorized

Tags

Aboriginal Aging Alcohol Art Art & Artists Autumn Beauty Birds Childhood Communication Connection Covid19 Death Dogs Dreams Faith Family Fear First Nations Friendship Gratitude Grief Healing Hope Horses Humor Loss Love Memory Mother Music Nature Perspective Poetry Prairie Psychology Ranch Life Regret Religion sensuality Solitude Spring War Winter Wisdom

©2015 Neil Meili. All Right Reserved.

Theme Designed By ThemeVan | Powered by WordPress

Loading Comments...

Write a Comment...

Email

Name

Website