Neil Meili

Zen Cowboy Poet & Freelance Philosopher

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Tag Archives: Regret

Bear Wisdom

Audio Recordings / tagged Conscience, Guilt, Hibernation, Regret, Sleep / February 15, 2024 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Bears can sleep the winter through
because they take no regrets to bed

And if you try to bring them some
they'll wisely bite you dead

Breathing in Winter

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Communication, Regret / December 18, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

1 Reply

Cousin Wayne

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Alcohol, Regret / October 7, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

When Wayne was thirteen
he had the finest blondest hair
the finest features and the finest mind
of all the cousins round

A city boy and cooler about everything than us
until we took him hunting

When his first shot hit the rabbit
he ran and cried and held it till it died

At eighteen he quit school with A grades
a month before graduation to get a jump on a job
met a girl and bragged of achievement on first date

Over achievement it turned out to be
quick marriage, quick, two children, three

Army for security, liquor for the pain
it was twenty years before I saw him again

He was in a downstairs bar
sitting there as coarse and thick as adobe brick

I wanted to roll it all back
reach in for the lost fineness and yank it all inside out

And hold him like the rabbit when he cried
still innocent when it died

1 Reply

Most Funeral Pews

Audio Recordings, Relationships / tagged Death, Grief, Love, Mourning, Regret / June 16, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Most funeral pews are filled
with shoulda said I Love You more

while those who said it every day
wish for more days to have said it

but with no wish to change pews
with those who never said it

The Road Less Re-travelled

Audio Recordings, Family, Personal Growth, Remembering / tagged Forgiveness, Regret / June 11, 2023 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Giving up hope for a better past
has been recommended by many
for forgiveness and for happiness

Easy enough to say when the sun
is shining on the road you're on
but what of the dark and rainy nights
with the wipers scratching the glass
what of sleepless photo albums rich
with pictures that you didn't take

Happiness is fine for givers of advice
for those of all of us flipping pages
some forgiveness would be very nice

Ball Lightning

Audio Recordings, Family, Nature / tagged Regret / July 22, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In the front door out the back

A ball of lightning through the barn
in the story dad would tell

I wonder now if the light was white
and if it made a sizzling sound
as some who've seen one have described
All happened in a blink I guess, and gone
like this, and all the questions that I didn't ask

Judy

Audio Recordings, Poems about Poetry, Relationships / tagged Grief, Regret, Suicide / April 21, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Judy was a beauty
tall and blonde and shy
early this month she decided to die

The soft wise eyes, the curling lashes
all now ashes

We have been friends for twenty years
hugs and coffee when in town, cards when far away

And always the latest poetry

She said it was important, and it touched her
in places nothing and no one else could reach

Three years ago
I put my neck in a green eyed noose

I sent no cards, I did not call

I do not know if I could have saved her
though touch and poetry have been known to

I only know I hate what I did and didn’t do
I only know that she drowned out there alone
I only know it was a long time since I had thrown her a line

Cousin Wayne

Audio Recordings, Family, Relationships / tagged Alcohol, Regret / April 11, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

When Wayne was thirteen
he had the finest blondest hair
the finest features and the finest mind
of all the cousins round

A city boy and cooler about everything than all of us
until we took him hunting

When his first shot hit the rabbit
he ran and cried and held it till it died

At eighteen he quit school with A grades
a month before graduation to get a jump on a job
met a girl and bragged of achievement on first date

Over achievement it turned out to be
quick marriage, quick, two children, three

Army for security, liquor for the pain
it was twenty years before I saw him again

He was in a downstairs bar
sitting there as coarse and thick as adobe brick

I wanted to roll it all back
reach in for the lost fineness and yank it all inside out

And hold him like the rabbit when he cried
still innocent when it died

1 Reply

Been There, Almost Done That

Audio Recordings, String Too Short To Save, Travel / tagged Regret / February 24, 2022 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

Toes in the Sands of Foreign Lands

Always a sadness in having to leave again so soon.

Dante’s 9th Inning Stretch

Audio Recordings / tagged Baseball, Regret, Sports / October 16, 2021 / by neil_2015_wordpress@neilmeili.com

In life there are errors
errors and regrets
and then there is baseball

The ball off the end of the glove
the errant throw, any errant throw
The running into the other fielder and the ball dropping between
The not being willing to run into the other fielder and the ball dropping between
The not tagging up at third
The easy dribble down the first base line
and knees that won't let you bend to pick
The ball that was called a strike
the strike that was called a ball
For Catholics there's Purgatory
with constant replay of regret
For baseball fans there's late October to forever

In sympathy with the 2021 Toronto Blue Jays – Best team in baseball not in the playoffs

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Ken Christopher on War WoundsNovember 12, 2024
So true, the barbed wire 👍🏼
Niece Karen on Quaking in the AtticOctober 23, 2024
Perfect metaphor - you captured me perfectly!
Ken Christopher on God is Getting OnOctober 22, 2024
Anger contained in love
Murray on Feels of the Farm – FlaxOctober 15, 2024
Now that's vintage knowledge Neil!!!! Hope you're feeling much better. Your poem would suggest you are!!
Ken Christopher on Fowl SupperSeptember 22, 2024
Wonderful poem Neil

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