Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Joy

To the Zoo

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships, Travel / tagged Adventure, Connection, Gratitude, Joy / June 13, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

I went to the Zoo with you
I went to the Zoo with you

There were lions and tigers and elephants
and cotton candy too

but I went to the Zoo with you
with you, with you, with you

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

Elemental Childhood

Audio Recordings, Nature / tagged Creation, Joy, Rain / May 6, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Jumping in puddles
water and mud in all directions

Joy enough in the drying clay
for God to make a world

Runoff

Audio Recordings, Haiku, Nature / tagged Joy, Melting, Seasons, Spring, Water / April 22, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

The children of spring
are racing down the mountains
eating dessert first

Rinpoche at Esalen

Audio Recordings, Personal Growth / tagged Esalen, God, Joy, Spirituality / February 23, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Small round happy
Tibetan spirit bubbling
teaching from his words and being
The search for God is everything
but it is not serious

Past Translating Present

Audio Recordings, News / tagged Dictators, Joy, MAGA, Nazi, Perspective, Power, Regret, Trump / January 21, 2025 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In her youth she'd been a Hitler Youth
filled with purpose and power
and the joy of pre-teen camaraderie

All now dimmed and damned wheen seen
through smoke from Auschwitz ovens
though somewhere in her still it shines
brightest diamond of her life

This was the story, or was it two
she sought my help to put to poem

That was thirty years ago
I might do a better job today
informed by watching rallies
filled with power hope and joy
and how it will look in their regret

Singing in Showers and Cars

Audio Recordings, Farm, Nostalgia, Ranch Life / tagged Joy, Music / December 6, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Kenny had a booming voice
and could carry a tune
and anyone who couldn't

Singing in the shower
you only have yourself and water
and the echoes of the walls

The cubic space in an old pickup cab
is about the same as a shower stall

Sometimes we sang
with the windows open
and gravel heavy on the bass
Sometimes it was raining
as we synced along
singing every Johnny Horton song

in the best studio in the world
in the best of all worlds

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Audio Recordings, Flight, Pilots / tagged Joy, Wonder / July 13, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Wouldn't it be nice
if you went out with your instructor one morning
and the blue foothills sky was full of white puff ball clouds

And you smiled at each other
and began to play in and out of their magic
of shadows and light

And it felt much as lighter than air
as air is lighter than earth

And the hour took moments and forever
and the silence and awe followed you back
and he wouldn't even take your money for the ride

Now I know it's not legal to fly in clouds like that
so I'm not exactly saying that it happened
but wouldn't it be nice

The Twinkle

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Joy, Light / March 31, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

There is a thing about light
no matter where it starts
it never stops

Even if it takes a million years
to get from the twinkling stars
to here

There was a twinkle in the eyes of this man
A twinkle of innocent mischief and inner joy
greeting every man and woman
every girl and boy

When you saw it you knew that he liked you
and never doubted that you’d like him too

And he was right

Because there is a thing about light

A million years from now
and no one knows how far
they will see it on some star

A poem composed for the author’s father’s funeral in 1997

Copper Left Her Laugh

Audio Recordings, Relationships, Remembering / tagged Death, Joy, Memory / March 29, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

It is on
her answering machine
It is in
the hearts
of a thousand friends
as she laughs at death
or with it

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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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