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: Dogs

My Uncle Shot My Dog

Audio Recordings, Cowboy Poetry, Family, Farm, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Death, Dogs, Forgiveness, Loyalty / December 1, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

My uncle shot my dog

My ever loving ever loyal saved me from the coyotes
Went back to the ranch to lead my parents to me
stuck in the mud - just like in the movies - Lassie dog

My uncle shot my dog

Maybe she had took to bitin’ people
if she did I’m sure they had it coming

Maybe she’d got to eatin’ the chickens
if she did she’d earned every one

Maybe she was old and sick and hurtin’
maybe she was better off dead than alive

I don’t remember anyone saying that
but I doubt it would’ve helped
Not when it’s your best friend - and you’re five

My uncle shot my dog

My uncle shot my dog
and went to his grave unforgiven
Maybe I can get it done before I go to mine

For Victor

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Aging, Care, Dogs, Love / November 30, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The only trick an old dog can learn
is how to be an old dog

The minimum of turns one has to take
before lying down for that nap

That a bark is as good as a chase
for keeping squirrels off the deck

And that after all these years
of standing up for your standing friends
you've likely earned their kneeling by you now

Little Finnegan’s Wake

Audio Recordings / tagged Death, Determination, Dogs, Heroism, James Joyce, Literature, Loyalty, Tenacity / November 29, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Finnegan’s Wake
is a model of travail over time

It took James Joyce 17 years to write
and might take you that long to read

Finnegan is also the name
of a little Jack Russell Terrier
who went hiking with her master
Rich Moore near Pagosa Springs Colorado

They found them seventy-two days later
on a rugged slope in the San Juan Mountains
Rich leaning dead against a yellow pine
and Finnegan still fiercely standing guard
Neither Finnegan nor Joyce knew how to give up

Click here to read more about Finney’s harrowing journey: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/richard-moore-jack-russell-terrier-pagosa-springs/

1 Reply

Ralph

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Dogs / November 28, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Ralph was a lab
and mostly smart as a lab
yet dumb as smart people can be

Examples of dumb...
Leaping on point from the back of a pickup
when a covey of quail had flushed
and skinning his nose on the landing
Putting porcupine on the menu for lunch
and coming home with a mouthful of quills

Example of smart...
Listening to me explain
how when you live on a ranch
forty miles from a vet I'm the vet
and quietly letting me pull them all out

GOD / DOG / MIRROR

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Death, Dogs, Faith, God, Heaven / July 16, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

GOD IS DOG IN A MIRROR
DOG IS GOD IN A MIRROR

KENNY HAD ALWAYS
A DOG AT HIS SIDE

NOW HE LIVES IN THAT SPACE
BETWEEN MIRRORS
WITH ONE ON EITHER SIDE

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

Coyote Eyes

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry / tagged Dogs, Music / November 2, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

It is Austin
so a poet is running for mayor

We stop by a back yard party
in our neighbourhood to meet
greet and hopefully support her

It is Austin
so there is an eight piece band
The Bob Katz and they're very good

A dog with coyote eyes
comes up and wants to be my friend
so I make up
a Coyote Eyes, Coyote Eyes song
and sing it to her while the band
lights up Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire

and she looks up at me with those coyote eyes
and we are very much in love
but I am late for a poetry reading
at the English Café and have to leave
so she goes and sits by another man
She is looking up at him with those coyote eyes
I think she is trying to tell him
about the song

150 Shades

Audio Recordings, Nature, Travel / tagged Dogs / July 31, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

for Roxy

A hundred and fifty shades
of County Grey on Georgian Bay

There's a dog now by the dock

Like other dogs
she does not see colours well

Unlike other dogs
she lives where beauty has no need

Farm Dog

Audio Recordings, Family, Ranch Life / tagged Death, Dogs, Love, Loyalty / July 17, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

1 Reply

Under The Porch

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Dogs, Unconditional Love / September 12, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The thing about parents is they see you as they'd like you to be, and you ain't
The thing about teachers and coaches is they see you getting all those A's and scoring on every play, and you c'aunt
The thing about dogs is
Hey quit lickin' on my face you fool

Post navigation

← Older posts

Newer 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