an old writer and his words

  • SHE

    She is territorial in a modest way. She can sit for hours looking out on the yard and the now dry wetland beyond. The birds come and go and she watches. They do not bother her and she does not bother them. They are part of the landscape, as she now is, she imagines. Even…

    Lou Faber

  • ALL TOO SOON

    We know it is a matter of timebefore the rains will come,the hurricanes will wailand inundate our world.We have planned for thisand we know we are not ready.We will be overwhelmedas we are each time, homeslost to floods that risefrom an angry ocean tiredof not being heeded.We will bail, pump and mop,wage a losing battleagainst…

    Lou Faber

  • A PLEASURE

    The phone rang as I stepped from the shower. Soon dry, I listened to the voice of my neighbor saying a long slithery snake was crawling up my gutter’s downspout. This I had to see and I did, phone camera in hand. He was about four feet long, kinked and moving slowly. He studied me,…

    Lou Faber

  • AND THE RAINS CAME

    It may sound odd, but what I miss mostis the spring rain, so short lived, alongthe roads in Highland Park in Rochester.You may say “but you live in Floridawhere the seasons are measured bywet and dry” and we do get rain, sometimesseemingly in Biblical proportions.and the Blue-winged Teals have returnedto our wetland now almost half…

    Lou Faber

  • LAUGHTER

    Each night the gallinules begintheir laughter, passing it from oneto another until you are no longer certainjust how many of them there are, butyou want to know just what comedythey are watching and put it on your list.But they are interrupted by the shadowsand the cry of the night Heronsdeparting for another night of huntingannouncing…

    Lou Faber

  • ONLY ONCE

    I don’t know who decided that we,as a group would go to the jai alai frontonthat evening, but as the junior-most memberof the management team it seemedat that moment less of a request or evenan invitation and more a command performance.I knew nothing about jai alai and the namesof the players, all in Portuguese might…

    Lou Faber

  • NOT HERE

    There were those January nights whenwinter wrapped us in its chill, but withdrewits frequent blanket of clouds, and Iwould go outside peering throughthe fog of my breath and lookinto the sky at the aurora borealis,watching the electrons danceon a black scrim dotted with myriad stars.Years later and miles away I missthe occasional night shows for…

    Lou Faber

  • SUBJECTION

    We have now fully masteredsubjection, some say we havedone it so often it is nowinherent in our nature.It is hard to argue that pointand we are now practicing iton more than other groups,we have turned our practiceon nature and her species.Birds are a perfect example.Applying our tried and truemethods we have slowly takentheir territory, forcing…

    Lou Faber

  • FIVE BIRDS

    The cold winter breezepalm fronds shivering at dawnegrets remain still a thousand birds landengage in conversationa foreign language arriving at duskwhite ibis strive to decidewho is the alpha the cat sits watchingthe sandhill crane approachesthey speak to each other a single ibisstruts across newly mown lawnsdinner now awaits

    Lou Faber

  • CONTACT

    When did it become surprisingfor a stranger passing on the sidewalkto offer a nod or even a hello?Perhaps it is a matter of geography,in some states, the warmer ones,it does seem much more common,or perhaps it is a matter more local,common in this neighborhoodnot nearly so much in that one,and downtown it is a complete…

    Lou Faber