Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Horses

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Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Horses / January 13, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The day breathed in and the day breathed out

After lunch my father took a nap - the horses had to rest

by supper time they were fed and brushed and thanked

And then the tractors came - and tractors do not nap

Not content with that small theft they soon grew lights and stole the dark

He fed them gas, they pulled the plow

But not once, one to the other
did they ever speak of love

Great Uncle Tony and Uncle Werner at seeding time – a long time ago

Ranch to Ranch by Sleigh

Audio Recordings, Family, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life, Remembering, Travel / tagged Horses, Winter / December 28, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Behind big horses winter-haired
kids long mother-readied ready

Hot coals for the foot warmer
heavy buffalo robes for laps
parkas, wooly pants and scarves

Forty below no end of snow
and five freezing miles to go
with complaining never allowed

or at least never aloud

Tabby La Rosa

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nature, Ranch Life / tagged Cats, Education, Horses, Kittens, Learning / May 15, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Horses are cats
they just want to be
petted and loved

Although
when you neglect to do so
they are much more likely
to send you flying
than piss on your best Persian mat

That sort of thing is reserved for cats
and cats are not horses
and deeply resent being ridden

as every toddling two-year-old
in history (unable to read history)
will have to have etched
on the blank slates of their skin

Horses are Dangerous Critters

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry, Ranch Life / tagged Death, Horses, Luck / November 21, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Make no mistake
every ride you are taking
reins and your life in your hands

Who can forget Bonnie Blue Butler
breaking hearts of Scarlett and Rhett
Christopher Reeve thrown like kryptonite
or Maxentius thrown and drowned in the Tiber

And the time Pinto Pete
steps in a prairie badger hole
while running full speed down the hill
and ass over teakettle does a full forward flip
ending up standing, me beside him reins in hand

Sometimes you live to write the poem
sometimes someone else will have to do it for you

1 Reply

Conversations with Horses

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Horses / October 2, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I never had a horse that talked to me
like Mr. Ed on sixties TV

If I had I might have learned a lot

I did talk to them of course
but mostly by knee and rein and spur
and sometimes thank you for a job well done

As for messages to me, I can only imagine
- or count the number of times bucked off

Smells of the Corrals

Audio Recordings, Cattle, Cows, Farm, Manure, Ranch Life / tagged Horses / October 1, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Horses don’t smell like cows
except when your nose is full
of acrid smoke at branding time

Disinfectant
from the pail for sloshing on the bag
after their prairie oysters are shucked
and later them oysters on the open fire

Burning
from the wire-saw freeing the ingrown horn

Dung flung
and dung hung on boots and belt and butt
from the calf that beat you at ‘who throws who’

1 Reply

Three Draft Horses

Audio Recordings, Family, Farm, Poems about Poetry, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Horses / July 29, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

On the ranch, ride before you walk
with big sister's brave behind my scared

Grandfather's big Clyde, top as wide as a table

The jackhammer hoofed plug at Al's in Idaho
while Dorsey gets to ride the silk-paced Arab
Chilalry is not dead, but it has a sore ass

May they all chomp
the hay of heaven while I flesh them

Technology

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Horses / October 3, 2020 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The day breathed in
and the day breathed out

After lunch my father took a nap
– the horses had to rest

By supper time they were fed
fed and brushed and thanked

And then the tractors came
– and tractors do not nap

Not content with that small theft
they soon grew lights and stole the dark

He fed them gas, they pulled the plow

But not once, one to the other
did they ever speak of love

Great Uncle Tony and Uncle Werner at seeding time – a long time ago

Why the Long Face?

Cowboy Poetry, Relationships / tagged Horses / March 19, 2019 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I'm sorry old hoss
I've forgotten your name
it's one of my failings I fate

But let's ride on a while
cause I sure like your style
and I never forget a gait

1 Reply

In honor of Farmer’s Day

Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Farming, Horses / October 12, 2018 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Uncle Tony and Cousin Werner at seeding time a long time ago.

2 Replies

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