an old writer and his words

  • GENSHA COMES TO THE PROVINCE

    When you siton the cushiondo not let your mindcompare this zazento yesterday’s orimagine tomorrow’s.Those are the thoughtsof a fool for yesterdayand tomorrow are,in this moment,only illusions. A reflection on Case 81 of the Book of Equanimity, Shoyoroku 従容錄

    Lou Faber

  • THREE HAIKU

    With every breathdeath is a moment closerand so is rebirth this unknown riveris not the one I stepped inone minute ago birth is terminalpromising unknown minutesdeath is a rebirth

    Lou Faber

  • HISTORY

    When he said he wanted to be a historianeven his parents laughed at him, remindinghim that “there’s no money to be madein history unless you want to be a teacher,and you are so much better than that.”He knew they wanted him to becomea doctor, or failing that, at least a lawyer.Few were surprised when, in…

    Lou Faber

  • OMOTESANDO

    When I would visit TokyoI often went to Shibuya where,on the second floor of an old buildingon Omotesando, a block printmerchant shared space withsouvenir vendors and artists.I would pick out prints that werereasonably priced, imagingfor a moment the were by Hokusaior Hiroshige, although I knew whatthey would cost if I could find them.Still, I’d carefully…

    Lou Faber

  • WHEN

    When I finally found you,when I finally knelt at your grave,when I finally said hello,when I finally said goodbye,when I finally touched the groundin which you are buriedon the hillside across the riverfrom the city where you were born,a Jewish girl in West Virginianot long removed from Lithuania,when I said my farewell that morningknowing I…

    Lou Faber

  • YOU AGAIN

    I have come to recognize the nightas both dear friend and hated foe,purveyor of nightmare and delight.But now I wish that it would stay awayfor my once immortality is goneand for each night I now have one less day.But night always turns down my plaintive prayerand reminds me that I am still aliveand death is…

    Lou Faber

  • SOLITUDE

    We are often blessed with solitudeyet we consider it a curse,for being alone can be difficult,more so when it is with yourself.The cacophony of the mindhas no off switch, and the outersilence is like a volume knobturned slowly to maximum.It can be bearable, but thereis always a lingering fearthat it may have no end point,that…

    Lou Faber

  • RYUGE PASSES THE CHIN REST

    You say you area seeker asking this teacherand that teacher to giveyou the dharmaand the knowledgeof how to attainenlightenment.Each teacher merelystrikes you withthe keisakuso you move on.Each teacherhas given youthe heart of dharma,why can’t you see it? A reflection on Case 80 of the Book of Equanimity, Shoyoroku 従容錄

    Lou Faber

  • SLOW DOWN?

    She is four and you realizequickly you have no ideawhat four is like, a personlooking for herself, uncertainwhat she will find and fearlessenough not to care, always curious.You know these days cannot last,that she will progress at a speedthat is dizzying and you don’twant them to end, for memoriesoften age badly, and can slip away.But…

    Lou Faber

  • SO CLOSE AND YET

    Some say that we were oncebriefly so close you couldproperly call us one person.I know it did not last, and Igave up looking for youfor the longest time, althoughI always felt the connectionbetween us had never weakened.Years later I did get withineight or so feet of you but younever acknowledged my presenceso I moved on…

    Lou Faber