an old writer and his words

  • A SOMBER CELEBRATION

    Once again we celebrate a groupthat even most of its members wish wenever had to celebrate, wish there wasno need for, wish the very conceptof war was never realized or imagined.You have to pause and wonder why Godin his or her infinite wisdom allowedCain to kill Abel, allowed the seedsof greed to take purchase in…

    Lou Faber

  • SENBAZURU

    For a reason I can no longer recallI began folding origami craneswith the intention of completinga senbazuru, 1000 cranes strungto hang somewhere although I knowI had no idea then where that might be.It was after reading how a youngJapanese girl folded 1000 cranes,in a hope for peace after Hiroshimawas devastated by our new bomb.I did…

    Lou Faber

  • NOVEMBER EVENING

    He sits calmly in the cornerof the restaurant redolent with curryand cardamom.He smiles, unseen,his third eyes staresdeeply felt on the backof my neck.Her eyes draw me inoffering a serenity,she smiles freelyand I recall the parkin the shadow of the mountainsthe soft touch of velvetand the empressalongside the fool.It is too soon donebut the soft furof…

    Lou Faber

  • JUST WAITING

    I spend a great deal of time waitingin rooms so namedin lines that never seem to movefor old Godot who still hasn’t arrivedfor the peace and prosperity the politicians love to promisefor the light to change to green when I am running latefor the rain to stop when I want to be outsidefor someone to…

    Lou Faber

  • FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE

    When a marriage comes apartas so many do, it seems,there is always someonewatching from the sidelineswho, while not being asked,offers up an “I knew thiswould happen from the start.”The “I told you so’s” pointingto a moment in the heartof the now doomed marriageare irritating enough, butthe “I knew it’s” are unforgivable.And when it happens so…

    Lou Faber

  • NOCHES

    Some look to the sky this nightto portend their future, certainfate is deeply encrypted there,and listen to the mellifluous chorusof a billion, billion stars offeringsongs as old as time itself.Others see the universe unfolding,all of its history displayed, and we leftto be cosmic archeologists alwaysin search of a Rosetta Stone, standingin awe of what cannot…

    Lou Faber

  • INTO THE DARKNESS

    We live in an age when logic has failed and our days come with the darkness of night leaving all of our plans and dreams derailed. We imagined a world, fully detailed to leave our children, that was their birthright. We live in an age when logic has failed and the battles we fought, the…

    Lou Faber

  • TOTTERING

    The world did not collapse today,although it tottered on the edge againas it does most days in recent memory.As a child we expected the world might endunless we hid under our deskswhen the alarms went off, so littledid we know about nuclear weaponsand what could be more uselessthan a desk at or near ground zero.We…

    Lou Faber

  • MOVING WALL

    She walks slowly pastthe three bronze menslumped wearily one against the others,and shuffled haltingly towardthe Wall where, at the sixth panel,she stooped and placed the small plastic poppyin the trough that cut along the base of the marble.Eyes squeezed closedshe reached up and tracedthe etched lettersseeking warmth from the cold stoneand felt its coarseness, likehis…

    Lou Faber

  • PEACE

    Today in odd places,at the most unexpected moments,a child will smile without reason,a young girl will laugh,the young boy will strokethe neck of a wandering cat,and in that placeat that momentthere will be a simple peace.Only the children will notice this,though it gives lie to thosewho deem peace impossible.A child knows that it isonly preconceptionsand…

    Lou Faber