Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Healing

They Never Learned to Sing the Blues

Audio Recordings, Family / tagged Grief, Healing, Music / March 28, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Not being from the South
the early deaths of my father's mother and my mother's father
never made it into song

Not being from the South
the thirties blowing the farm away
and the salt scarring the young girls' legs
never made it into song

Not being from the South
the hymns in church never rocked the roof
No-one heeard, though they felt the pain
that never made it into song

Not being from the South
they never got to sing their blues away

Dealing with Pricks

Audio Recordings, Personal Growth / tagged Coping, Fragility, Healing, Hurt, Pain / March 7, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

We are all voodoo dolls
some have learned the skills
of fending off or pulling out the pins

Bone on Bone

Audio Recordings, Personal Growth / tagged Aging, Bravado, Experience, Healing, Injury, Masculinity, Pain, Therapy / February 22, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The achy side of middle age
Julia Alvarez - The Cemetery of Untold Stories

It is well though untrue to say
my knees got like this from kneeling
though might pray to have them bend again

At Robert Bly's men's gatherings
they pinned a ribbon where each wound
had come from trying to be men

I won't bore you with the many mine
nor gie the younger advice to ignore
as I would have ignored it in my youth
and when they learn put ribbons on
blue ones for pride and red for regret

I’m Ready For My New Hip Now

Audio Recordings, Family, Personal Growth / tagged Conflict, Gratitude, Healing, Perspective / February 21, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I think I have finally forgiven
My old hip for all those years of pain

My mother for her hesitation
to carry me in a time of war

My father for the crossings
between the baler and the shed
and between his will and mine

And have taken also
the first small steps toward gratitude
for how far all three have carried me

Shelter

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Chaos, Forgiveness, Healing, Love, Survival, Uncertainty, War / February 14, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

We parked our souls in the shade of the chaos - Bill Holm

Tho around and within us din
we forgave each stumbling sin
'kissed it well' the oft barked shin

and warmed each other in the bed
still the envy of the dead

Take Time to Heal

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Personal Growth / tagged Healing, New Year, Rest / January 1, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Take time to heal
Futures build on scar tissue
not open wounds

Wishing you a quiet reset and a happy new year

1 Reply

Eagle on the Moon

Audio Recordings, Personal Growth, Relationships / tagged Aboriginal, First Nations, Healing, Mother Earth, Prophesy, Reconcilliation, Reparations, Spirit / June 23, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

When the Eagle lands on the moon
the Indian will come back
into his power

When the mother who is in pain
the children who never forgot
will remind

They will have the medicine
to heal her wounds
They will sit with her while
strength returns

And the children who forgot
will remember

and bring flowers

“The Eagle has landed” – Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969

Frost Bite

Audio Recordings, Environment, Nature, Personal Growth, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Grief, Healing, Heartbreak, Winter / January 20, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

On the prairies they know
that you have to use snow

In January on the Wood River
the laces got wet and then stiff
and could not be untied

Walked the wimpering long mile home
in one frozen skate and one warm boot
part of my foot and all my toes
numb and milky white

On the prairies they know
that you have to use snow

Too much warmth all at once
can bring the feeling rushing back
with more pain than you can stand

I have since learned
- and this is the hard part-
It is the same way with the heart

New Tribes

Audio Recordings, Personal Growth, Relationships / tagged Communication, Healing, Hope, Israel, Jewish, Muslim, Palestine, Voice Dialogue / December 17, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

From the old tribe of Isaac
and the old tribe of Ishmael

Israeli and Palestinian
couples and their children
come together by the sea and share

We are teaching the skills of listening
the skills of sharing and skills of hearing

The rules are simple
tell your truth as your truth only

Assume as you listen
that the person makes sense
If they do not seem to make sense
assume you need more information

By the end of the weekend
the eight year olds are sleeping over
teenagers walk on the beach till dawn

A new tribe being formed

Kintsugi

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Personal Growth / tagged Aging, Healing, Love / December 5, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Like kintsugi cup
all old breaks now filled with gold
you so beautiful

What is Kintsugi ?

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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!
Ken Christopher on The Farmer’s DaughterMay 7, 2025
Very nice
pat psooy on Wood River WindingsMay 4, 2025
A very good poem!!!
Tom on Basketball in CanadaApril 18, 2025
Neil, as you may know we live about 15 miles from his former farm. The locals have installed a bronze…

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