an old writer and his words

  • IN SILENCE

    Sitting in stillness, the silenceis at first shocking, deafeningin a way unimagined but there.Within the lack of sound liesa thousand sounds younever heard in the din of life.You hear the young monk at Senso-jiapproach the great bell and pullback on the log shu-moku, straining.You hear the laugh of school agedchildren hand in hand walking throughthe…

    Lou Faber

  • IDENTIFYING WITH CAUSE AND EFFECT

    You offer to methat which I cannot take,I refuse to give youthe one thing you can accept.We each have nothingand give nothingand are happyfor the perfect gift. A reflection on Case 90 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • DESIGN?

    I still have grave doubtsabout designers in general, clothinghouses in more particular, and above all furniture. You have to ask if the personwho designed this chairwas somehow incapable of sitting,or simply wanted somethingthat looked artistic, to hellwith the comfort of its occupant. And some designers take thisto extremes, hoping perhapsfor some measure of eternal recognition.Take…

    Lou Faber

  • ONE MORE

    How many nails doesa simple coffin need? They hammered another onetoday, the largest yet. We had invited themto do so it seems. We were upset by thisbut there was nothing wecould really do exceptcall them out and threatento do what exactlyhas never been clear. So we are left to mournagain the death, knowingthat there can…

    Lou Faber

  • MINDFUL

    I saw the sunrise this morningover Mt. Hood, theglow that announcedto the horizon its approach.There should bein the life of every man,every woman, that momentwhen seeing dawnlift, peel back the shroudfrom Mt. Hood causes the suddenintake of just that much extra breath. Publshed in As Above, So Below, Issue 9, August 2022https://issuu.com/bethanyrivers77/docs/as_above_so_below_issue_9

    Lou Faber

  • UNANSWERED

    There are so many questions for which I have never gotten an answer. What, for instance, does one who is lactose intolerant cry over? If the rest is history, can’t we just stop now and read it later? And if every cloud has that silver lining, it has been well seeded, so why isn’t it…

    Lou Faber

  • ONLY A BUDDHA AND A BUDDHA

    We walk forwardto try and seewhere we are going,always wantingbut never seeingwhere we have been.Is it better towalk backwardseeing clearlywhere we will not gowithout ideaof a destination.Look down and decide. A reflection on Case 92 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • STET-US QUO

    The mind can bea brutal editor, revisinghistory, rejecting memorieswithout a substantial rewrite. My step sister, many yearsdead remains five, thatyoung face engraftedon the woman ravagedby unrelenting cancers. My first wife of 30 yearsis mostly faceless, themental pictures and dreamsedited until only sheis unrecognizable. And in moments of reflectionI am no longer adopted,the step-siblings were,but they…

    Lou Faber

  • BANISHED

    Yet again this morningthere was a shadowclosely following me. When I turned, it stoodin front of me, daring meto do something I guess. When I asked it whoit was, it said I am youyou dottering old man. I told it that such a liedefied belief, for it wasfar taller than me. It was about to…

    Lou Faber

  • A SEPTEMBER SKY

    Lie back, I said to her,just stare up that waystare into the skywithout any clear focus.Do you see him now,the hunter with his bowoutstretched, the beltcinched about his waistlocked in his eternal searchfor the prey that would free himfrom his nightly quest.And there, I pointedcan you see the great beargamboling with her childor there a…

    Lou Faber