an old writer and his words

  • CAT PEOPLE

    We spent one morningof our visit to Key West wanderingaround Hemingway’s home. The six-toed cats seemed to realizethat we were cat people, cameover to us, took us asidefor a petting and conversation. He was a tough old goat,they said, or so our ancestorstold itm and we cannot beginto understand why you,cat people, so obviously intelligentwould…

    Lou Faber

  • NEVER EVER

    For those who cannot see the picture above, please imagine this text is the most hated font of all time*: There are certain sinsa poet learns never to commit,whether by teaching orsimply bad experience. Poetic sins come in manyshapes and sizes, grammatical,typographical, metaphorical,or just about any -al you choose. Bad rhyme is a minefield, unableto…

    Lou Faber

  • WE ARE IN KANSAS, TOTO

    In my dream, the worldwas at peace, and I was ridingacross Kansas on a unicycle, towingmy car, packed to the windows,my dog walking alongside urgingme to speed up because shewanted to visit South Dakota.I am due for a tricycle, Iremind the dog, “the gravemore likely,” she respondswith a sneer that teeters betweenlove and spite, always…

    Lou Faber

  • READING LIST

    A good friend, who we hadnot seen in COVID time, visitedand we smiled when we sawthat she was reading Heidi,catching up she said on a tooabbreviated childhood, onesacrificed to circumstance My grandson, soon enoughten, says he is readingBeowulf, though not the Heaneytranslation, so there are twomore books on my booksyou must read before you die…

    Lou Faber

  • PERSPECTIVE

    It is always, the artist told me,a question of angles and elevations,but I am sure that was just his perspective. Dali threw all of that out, madea pretty good living at taking perspectiveout of his work, replaced by fluidity. For Dali that fluidity resultedin a fair bit of liquidity, which wasan irony not the least…

    Lou Faber

  • DECISION TIME

    Checking the calendar, I seethat today I must makea profound decision that willaffect my life for years to come. I am certain it will not bea simple decision, importantdecisions seldom are, and thisoffers multiple but no easy choices. I have long taken the facile wayaround the issue, a straightforward“same as everyone else does”approach that has…

    Lou Faber

  • TAILORING

    My adoptivegrandfather could take bitsof cloth, a needle, threadand with magiclygnarled fingerscreate a garmentfit for royalty, to be wornby the old womanliving in the walkup down the street. I take wordsbits of ideasand hope,and with manicured fingerscreate whatI can only hopepasses for poetryto be ignoredby thoseliving nearbyin my suburb.

    Lou Faber

  • TAKING

    You can take my sight,but my mind will still see what it must,and my fingers will become eyes.You can take my hearing,I will imagine what I must,and my eyes will become ears.You can take my tongue,but my body will shout what I must,and my hands will speak volumes.The only thing you cannot takeis my words,…

    Lou Faber

  • A LESSON TO TEACH

    This is what I would tell my sons:“You came from an ancient people,a heritage of poetsand tailors, or thievesand blasphemers,of callous menand slaughtered children.I would give you these books,written by God, some have said,although I am doubtfulbut driven by Erato, without doubt.” This is what I would tell my sons:“I didn’t go to war —there were so many…

    Lou Faber

  • IN HIS IMAGE

    He said the assignment isan easy one for this class,write a piece, poem or story,your choice, but focused on a single metaphor. Oh,and to make it interesting,that metaphor should bethe last pet you owned orcurrently own, and if you’venever been blessed with a pet,use an ocelot or a lynx. How hard could it be, I thought,I…

    Lou Faber