Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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An Invitation

Uncategorized / September 21, 2018 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Neil wanders the world in awe – Mirrors and metaphor everywhere. You can join him on this journey with a Poem in your Inbox every day. CLICK HERE to start today

Outdigenous

Audio Recordings / tagged :anguage, Communication, Culture, First Nations, Indigenous Peoples, Loss, Native American / September 28, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

A dog is not a dog
in languages where it is
a wolf and no man's friend

Every language has, or had
words that do not translate to others

Seven hundred languages in Australia
before English discovered them to death

How many in the Americas, many to few
their words for mourning not here for this poem

Aboriginal pictograph, Kakadu National Park, Arnhem Land, Australia

My Uncle Shot My Dog

Audio Recordings, Cowboy Poetry, Family, Farm, Ranch Life, Relationships / tagged Blame, Childhood, Death, Forgiveness, Grief, pets / September 27, 2026 / 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

2 Replies

What Grows on the Farm

Audio Recordings, Farm, Personal Growth, Ranch Life, Travel / tagged Change, Home, Observation / September 26, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

That one could
live here all their lives
and know nothing, or know everything

That one could
leave here and come bacl
and see everything, or see nothing

And after the harvest it would all be the same

Swathing

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Grain, Harvest, Pride, Wheat / September 25, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Turning for home at dusk
he takes a moment to look back in pride
at the last perfect swath among the perfect swaths

Lines straight as Protestant prayer
overlapping and gold as Burnhilda's braids
floating on firm stubble cut at perfect length
to allow the prairie winds to blow above below
and dry the kernels in the holding heads
to Number 1 Northern, best wheat in the world

Tonight, once more he'll fall to sleep
counting loaves of bread instead of sheep

Wheat

Audio Recordings, Farm, Ranch Life / tagged Baking, Bread, Communion, Harvest, Nourishment / September 24, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

What perfect voice will sing the thruths of wheat? - Frederico Lorca

What half-ripe for chewing gum

Wheat for rolling waves in wind
Wheat for loaves and fishes giving

Wheat for shoveling wheat all day
and eating earned fresh from oven

Wheat for Jesus body sharing
with your brethren in the pews

Wheat for only rain is news

Ode to Ode to Autumn

Audio Recordings, Farm, Poems about Poetry, Ranch Life / tagged Autumn, Early Death, Fall, Harvest, Seasons / September 23, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Well John Keats
you nailed that one good
... to load and bless
with fruit the vines that
round the thatch-eves run

A continent away
I drive through fields
of swath-striped gold
and thing of you at 24
but two years from being
harvested while still green

Little Finnegan’s Wake

Audio Recordings / tagged Death, Determination, Dogs, James Joyce, Literature, Loyalty, pets, Tenacity / September 21, 2026 / 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
Neilther Finnegan nor Joyce know 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/

A House Without a Dog

Audio Recordings / tagged Dogs, pets, Unconditional Love / September 20, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

A house without a dog is never truly warm
no matter what the thermostat says

A house however with a dog
is like a court with no judge or jury

Everyone gets the benefit of the doubt
and an ear scratch
by the bailiff gets you out

1 Reply

Under the Porch

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Education, Expectations, Sport, Unconditional Love / September 19, 2026 / 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 cain't

The thing about dogs is
Hey, quit licking' on my face you fool

Flat Earther Grade One

Audio Recordings, Ranch Life, Remembering / tagged Education, Learning, Perspective / September 18, 2026 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Don't be silly
the earth isn't round it's hilly

But you can't tell a teacher
with a marble
as round and blue
as my eyes that knew
that what they saw was true

so she taught
and taught til I forgot
but the hills were never the same

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Sandi Hebley on My Uncle Shot My DogSeptember 27, 2026
😢😢🤗
Jerry Gunn on My Uncle Shot My DogSeptember 27, 2026
Neil This is the poem I thought you might deliver in High River. I love this poem. Your bud, Jerry
Sandi Hebley on A House Without a DogSeptember 20, 2026
A good one for us dog people!
Sandi Hebley on Back to SaskatchewanSeptember 17, 2026
💕💕
Sandi Hebley on Breakfast at the Chateau Lake LouiseSeptember 14, 2026
Beautiful!

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