an old writer and his words

  • SO TO SPEAK

    It has taken 67 years, but I have finally arrived at what I want to do and be when I finally grow up, which should happen any day now, but please don’t hold your breath. In this modern age, there is an ever present and growing need for euphemists, and I am perfectly suited for…

    Lou Faber

  • GENDER?

    So why, pray tell, does my gender even matter, it isn’t like we will ever. meet, and let’s face it, there is a fluidity now which calls binary thinking absurd, so we’ll go with whatever you choose, so long as you realize I am all about compassion and relieving the world’s suffering – thought that…

    Lou Faber

  • HOLY GRAMMAR

    The Rabbi smiled and said God writes history only in the future perfect tense. First published in European Judaism (UK) Vol. 33, No.1 (2000) For Something Different, a new bird photo each day, visit my other blog: Bird-of-the-day.com 

    Lou Faber

  • A COMMON TONGUE

    It has been said, wisely, that all children speak a common language, regardless of what adults believe they are hearing. The proof of that proposition is simple enough, pause and watch a parent make demands of a child in the presence of other children, see the reluctant child glance at his foreign peers and gain…

    Lou Faber

  • IN SEARCH

    En route to Buddhism, I must admit I stopped at numerous philosophical way-stations, none quite as equipped as I would desire and so I moved on. Buddhism was my solution, no demands other than I be present, knowing I had no real choice but to do so, all in the recognition of that fact. I…

    Lou Faber

  • SHUZAN’S SHIPPEI 無門關 四十三

    Osho holds up a staff and cradles a small long haired dog. What do you call these, he asks the gathered assembly in both fact and reality? A chattering din brings the hall to silence, until the ghost of Joshu unfolds himself, strides to the zendo door, and while bowing, shouts MU! A reflection on…

    Lou Faber

  • IF YOU BUILD IT

    In the midst of this pandemic everyone, it seems, is offering playlists and lists of movies to watch during the endless days of isolation, and so long as the internet goes on, we may die of viral complications, yes, but not of boredom soon. I have aggregated the various lists, stricken movies far too close…

    Lou Faber

  • ON MORTALITY

    Death was never something we considered, until that certain, ill-defined moment when our immortality suddenly disappeared, and in its place was a reality to be avoided. Even once death became a shadow, always lurking around us, we kept our face toward the sun, so that death might not be seen in the bright light of…

    Lou Faber

  • THAT MOMENT

    There is always that moment when I stand stock-still, afraid to move, the poised camera a lead weight on my hands, arms emaciated hammocks dangling from shoulders inviting something that will not come into focus. The Great Blue heron, who is the sole focus of my attention, stares at me, or through or perhaps past…

    Lou Faber

  • A SUDDEN DEPARTURE

    You sneaked away one night. You were there, but while sleep claimed me, you were gone without notice or warning. Where should I look for you? In these barren hills where the spirits of the first nations roam, looking for their ancestral land? Where should I look for you? Wandering these verdant fields where a…

    Lou Faber