Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Childhood

Blue-Eyed Boy

Audio Recordings, Environment, Nature, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Remembering / tagged Childhood, Companionship, Dogs, Freedom, Play, Prairie / May 9, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Blue-eyed boy
blasts off from breakfast
like a quail on a rail

Collie dog leaps on board
and they’re off across the prairie
barely touching the tops of hills

Sun gives warmth or cloud gives shade
all depending on his whim
birds and rocks and swaying grass
everything living embraces him

Burrs don’t stick and thorns don’t prick
even fences, joining in the play
happily turn their barbs away

Floating along on the wings of four
not long now till they slam that door

Author, about age 4, on the Saskatchewan ranch

Remembering When

Audio Recordings, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Remembering / tagged Childhood, Joy, Presence / May 8, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Remembering when
anything was everything
full presence childhood

Author, about 3 years-old, on a trike on the ranch

1 Reply

The Farmer’s Daughter

Audio Recordings, Family, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Childhood, Delight, Wonder / May 7, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

That little skipping step
the white cotton dress
the pebbles rolling down the path

The sunflowers turning
to watch her as she passes

1 Reply

Mossbank II

Audio Recordings / tagged Childhood, Learning, Music, Noise, Practice / March 24, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Valve trombone and trumpet
Ernie and me
poisoning the air with practice

Tabula Rasa on the Ranch

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nature, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Remembering / tagged Childhood, Dogs, Solitude / February 6, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Bee thinking about
what I might have been thinking about
on those long walks, just me and the dog
and coming to the conclusion - nothing much

The dog had her nose to follow
and she older and wiser than my four or five
more likely I just followed where it took her

A covey of partridge might explode in our face
a killdeer fake hurt to mislead us from her nest
or gophers barely beat us in a race to their hole

Even though I don't remember what there was
the secret of the joy might have been what wasn't
and what there wasn't in all those acres was people

With people you had to use your wits and words
and about a hundred million ways to get it wrong

Just me and the dog it was nothing but song

Halloweens in Dreams

Audio Recordings / tagged Childhood, Fear, Halloween, Horror, Stories / October 31, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Let's have a party this year
after all the trick-or-treaters
have gone home to rot their teeth
and look like this year's pumpkins

We'll sit around the light
of the candles last flickerings
and share scariest childhood dreams

I'll bring the big brown bear
that chased me every night
to the mouth of an open well
where I fell all the way to waking

And you can try to top or bottom that

Fair Ball

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Baseball, Childhood, Sport, Support / September 16, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

So what if my father
only came out once
to watch me play baseball

He was a busy man

I caught a hard line drive

Old Ranch Physics

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life / tagged Childhood, Play, Science / August 4, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Centrifugal force
is a gopher circling
on a binder twine noose

A cinch breaking
on a quarter-horse turning
and how far from the horse you fall

A quarter spinning
in the big bread-mixing bowl
and the up and down whoosh of the whine

A Funny Story

Audio Recordings, Family, Remembering / tagged Childhood, Humor / July 21, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In the dream I say to brother Wally

You're going to have to tell the story
of the milk I drank way back then
is going to come out my nose again

Why the Collectors Aren’t Collecting My Comic Book Collection

Audio Recordings, Family, Nostalgia / tagged Boys, Childhood, Siblings / July 19, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Peanut butter
bacon, candy and mud

roll em up fold em up
lug them everywhere love

and brothers

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Nancy Fierstien on Hard to Get War Poems to RhymeJune 3, 2025
Thanks for sharing this one, my friend. It packs a good punch, line after line. I'll be glad to give…
Christie flaman on Going ProMay 17, 2025
Old cowboy saying: Never a horse that couldn’t be rode, never a cowboy that couldn’t be thrown Thank you for…
Ken Christopher on Going ProMay 16, 2025
That’s pretty funny, and fun to read
Nancy Fierstien on Spring Came InMay 12, 2025
You've certainly captured these crazy times with finesse and grace, my Friend!
Nancy Fierstien on Remembering WhenMay 8, 2025
I'm betting "slow motion" was never your style!

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