an old writer and his words

  • WINTER

    As I stare out the window and watchthe snow slowly build on the limbsof the now barren crab apple, paintingit with a whiteness that bears heavily,giving the smaller branches a betterview of the ground in which theirfruit of the summer lies buried. I am forced to wonder if the treecontinues to watch me, if its…

    Lou Faber

  • ANGELS

    He says he cannot believe in angelsbecause he has never seen one.I do not believe in his sort of angels, but notfor lack of visual confirmation, ratherthat I live in a world that nowis so deeply in need, that an angelmight be our last, best hope, butthe scope of angelic miracles isnot likely wide enough…

    Lou Faber

  • WE WERE SPECIAL

    We were a special generation,that’s what they told us, and althoughwe had no real idea who they were,we drank the Kool-Aid and believed them. We got liberal educations, weresmarter than our parents,and went off to the wars that theystarted for us, did enough drugsto numb the pain of our existence,and became first class working drones.…

    Lou Faber

  • ISAN’S TIME 鐵笛倒吹 十六

    A cold dayhow many other winterscan you remember,how many future winterscan your mind grasp? Can you hold yesterdayin the palm of your handcan you wrap tomorrowaround your thumb? Between the palmsin gassholies all life and being. A reflection on case 16 of the Iron Flute Koans

    Lou Faber

  • A SIMPLE CHOICE

    It is a simple choice, she said,bicycles or a cat. I wanted to tell her thatthere are no simple choicesin the middle of a pandemic,and those that seem that way,to mask or not, to shop or notcan be life or death choices. I thought about the optionsfor a few moments, rememberedthe cats I still mourn…

    Lou Faber

  • ISAN’S GIFT 正法眼蔵 語十六

    If someone has much,give him little,if someone has little,give him much.If you have much,give much, butif you have little,give only little.Little and muchare both the samewhen given and received. A reflection on Case 56 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • HOME, NIGHT

    Living in a bamboo grove, she said,is very much like living in an old house. Look up at noon, into the canopyand imagine you see rays of lightpiercing the ill-thatched roof. Listen to the growling winds of autumnand hear the ghosts of the old housemaking their way up creaking stairs. And when you truly find…

    Lou Faber

  • STARING

    He liked nothing betterthen to sit outsidehis small cottageand stare into the pondonce the blaze on the waterset by the sun was consumedas fire must always be by water.As night deepened, he staredinto the sky, seeing the moonslowly rise, chasing alongthe sun’s now deserted path.He knew the myriad of starsshared his interest, staringbut he abandoned…

    Lou Faber

  • EYES HAVE IT

    It is the eyes that fall in love,the heart that follows likean always faithful shadow,and the mind and reason thatare bound to darkness and silence. That is what I learned in my dreamlast night, or my recollection of it, for dreamsmay fade in the sharp light of morning. But dreams have a potent magic, a…

    Lou Faber

  • HYAKUJO’S SECOND VISIT 正法眼蔵 語十四

    You may come asking questions,and perhaps the teacherwill answer you with a discourse.If you go deaf and hear nothing,if the words flitlike so many mayfliesjust as soon gone,if no word finds purchaseyou will have a graspthe heart of the Dharma. A reflection on Case 54 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber