an old writer and his words

  • DRY FEET

    My Buddhist teachers saythat you cannot stepinto the same river twice.I am not one for steppinginto rivers at all, havingas a child done so andslipping on a smooth rockfalling and bruising my thigh.It was more of a creekand I should have seenthe slime on the rockbut a child is more interestedin what lies ahead and…

    Lou Faber

  • PUHUA KNOCKS OVER A TABLE

    While you are on the cushionif your teacher stoopsto ask you how is your sittingdo you say it is goodor it is not good?The teacher will smirkat either answer forthere are no good sittingsor bad sittings,there is only sitting. A reflection on Case 96 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • EVER PATIENT

    Fuji-san, its snow cap slowly retreating,smiles down on the ever goldening rice shoots.The holy mountain pays no notice to the Shinkansenhurtling its way from Tokyo to Osakanot pausing to pay homage to the godswho inhabit the venerable volcano and whohave grown tired awaiting the favor of thoserushing, always rushing, to be somewhere else.Fuji-san knows that…

    Lou Faber

  • I QUIT

    Nature joined me uninvited this morningas I sat on the lanai overlooking whatonce was a bird filled wetland, now grownover with Carolina willow andthe too frequent Brazilian Cherry.“The birds have given up on you,”I thought I heard nature say, “I supposeyou miss them?”. “Terribly,” I said“for they were a part of me that hasnow withered…

    Lou Faber

  • CONSOLATION PRIZE

    I do not remember the faceof the nurse who carried meaway from you the daythe door to an alien worldwas thrown open for me.Did either of you look closelyor did I become one moremoved slowly downthe obstetric conveyor.I would have liked somelink to my birth, somethingmore than the naked assurancethat it happened and thatthere was…

    Lou Faber

  • BUDDHA’S TEACHING OF A LIFETIME

    If you ask a teacherto teach you Zenin a single lessonwhat do you expecthim to say to you?If he sits on the cushionsaying nothingin deep zazenyou have the answer. A reflection on Case 94 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • I WANT TO BELIEVE

    I want to believethat I am a man of words,to think you would agree,for words inundate my world. In my home I live among wordssome mine, mostly those of others. They follow me like a shadowat noon, the sunalways on my face. I want to know what theywant from me but theydo not answer or…

    Lou Faber

  • TO BE OR NOT TO BE

    The spider sits on the transomover the front door waiting, tryingto decide if it dares attempt entry.Others of its kind have, neverto return or to do so crippledand it knows a five or six-leggedarachnid would not be longfor the world it is trying to escape.I doubt it knows the risksthat lie within, a cat who…

    Lou Faber

  • FAMILY PLOTTING

    I suppose the only thingmy adoptive parentsnever fought overduring the endless divorcewas who would getto be buried in the family plot.The lawyers disposed of iton their behalf and allthat was left to argue overwas the pittance that remainedonce their fees were collected.My birth parents hadno such problems, the onlytime they were togetherwere the momentssurrounding my…

    Lou Faber

  • ELAINE

    It’s 12 degreesthe night airslices throughmy sweatermy teeth chatter.Standing in the lotfetching my cell phonefrom the glove boxmy breath congealsaround my facea cloud.I look upat the moonsnowflakes dancingon my forehead.Luna’s faceis shroudedby a cirrus veil,but her eyesare yoursher lips softcaressingcurl upwardsin a smileas yours.I tell herof my loveand she whispersher lovereflectivelyin the voiceI hearas I…

    Lou Faber