Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Fear

The Bobcat

Audio Recordings, Nature / tagged Fear, Wild Animals / March 30, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Boy scout camp, St. Victor Saskatchewan. About 50 miles (80km) north of the Montana border

Image by milesz from Pixabay

Worry Insurance

Audio Recordings, News / tagged Concern, Fear, Prayer / February 28, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

None of the things
our mother worried about
where were many ever happened

Wishing she was here
today - I could give her such a list

Church Windows

Audio Recordings / tagged Fear, Work / December 27, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Someone, I think it was Rilke, said
Religion is like a window
you can see God through it
but it keeps you from touching him

Summer job at sixteen
removing for re-leading
panels of old stained glass
from Moose Jaw's St. Andrews church

Rickety extension ladder
up to a plank between the parapets
another ladder barely on it
and a long drop to the stone steps

Hands trembling, knees shaking
glad I was on the God side of the glass

Seeking While Yet Fearing Fame

Audio Recordings / tagged Adoration, Fame, Fear, Stardom / December 19, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Groupies are fine
one or two at a time

for they bring a love
of such innocent ferocity
that it calls out for reciprocity

Even Marilyn could not sleep
with every soldier on a USO tour
the weight of their wanting
lifting her and pulling her down

Though the risk of such is slim
I carefully fence my egoings in

Mensa Mortality Moan

Audio Recordings, Haiku / tagged Death, Fear, Identity, Intelligence / October 29, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Smart enough to know
can't take cash , but what if you
can't take your IQ

Of Bears and Love

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Dreams, Fear, Love / October 19, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

You could draw a hundred mile circle
around our Saskatchewan ranch
and not find a bear anywhere

And yet, there was always a bear

Chasing me
chasing me through my dreams
until I fell, always fell, into a well
and awoke still falling

They say, in falling dreams
you die if you hit the bottom before waking

That was when I was four
I don't dream that dream anymore

Yet when I find myself falling in love with tumbling down and down into love
that old bear is still there

And the fear to let go and hit bottom

The Inner Critic

Audio Recordings, Family, Personal Growth / tagged Compassion, Doubt, Fear, Patterns, Shame / June 29, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Poor little Keystone Cop
(although often not so funny)
leaping from shoulder to shoulder
trying so hard to keep us safe
Yelling or whispering in each ear
the old rules based on fear

Telling us
what we should have done
and what we should never do
enforcing rules learned long ago
that may no longer be true

The voice of your mother still
nags when your room's not neat
The voice of your father
still wants you up at dawn

Your teacher and your coach
Your country and your culture
Your parents and your younger selves
with messages to keep you safe

The cop only knows
what he used to know
and still does what he was told to do
You don't have to destroy him
or shove him out the door

Just put your arm around him
and tell him
you're no longer four

Harmed and Dangerous

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Abuse, Anger, Fear, Pain / April 7, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

That hate didn't come from nowhere
somebody got bullied or beaten
or prejudice in their pablum

Compassion and caution
are called for
and there are badgers everywhere

Through Chicken Wire Darkly

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry / tagged Faith, Fear, Hope, Literature, War, Xenophobia / February 17, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The bounding beauty of foxes
if mostly lost on the housers of hens

A race any race
has a beauty in its face
seldom seen through crosshairs
or the fear of being seen through them

Kits and kittens give some hope
and reading the love bits of holy books
and the poetry of poets not named Poe

You Think Therefore I Am

Audio Recordings / tagged Attention, Fear, Insecurity, Social Media, Trump / January 9, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

William Stafford's mother
spoke of some people in town as
"So boring you get tired of them
even when they're not around"

Is it fear that that is us
that wakes us all a-sweat at two a.m.
to send out all cap tweets
hoping their echoes will make us real

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Sandi Hebley on The Snakes Were EasyApril 11, 2026
LOL! Love this one!
Evie shafner on MagdaleneApril 6, 2026
Beautiful
Sandi Hebley on Another for the CatApril 1, 2026
🤣🤣🤣
Eda Lishman on How I Lost My Faith – In PreachersMarch 3, 2026
An epic moment for seven year olds! Wow how many lessons can you have in one incident? And a few…
Nancy Fierstien on A Tear for the RichFebruary 23, 2026
Another gem worth it's weight in gold from you, Neil Meili!

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