an old writer and his words

  • THE WATCHER

    He stands transfixed on the bridge, arms outstretched, staring at the river always flowing slowly by below. He wears a garland of gold, an inscription in Hebrew, the holiest of holies, mocking those who hold him a man. Did he peer out of the corner of his eyes as they marched them across the bridge…

    Lou Faber

  • RELATIVELY SPEAKING

    “We created time,” he said, “so we are free to ignore it whenever we wish, don’t tell me that I am late, for that is only by your clock and you should know that most clocks are never right. It is only the stopped clock that is right, and that only twice each day.” We…

    Lou Faber

  • THIS IS HOW WE MOURN

    This is how we mourn: we don’t berate the clouds for gathering, nor begrudge the rain’s ultimate descent. Our tears fall to the earth as well, and there are moments when we need the gray, moments when the sun would be an unwelcomed interloper. This is how we mourn: we wipe the walls clean of…

    Lou Faber

  • WALKING

    The entirety of this practice is to learn to walk with a lightness, so that you contact the earth, the grass, not tread on it, so that the earth and the grass caress your feet and not try to push them away, and all the while there must be a gentleness of breath so the…

    Lou Faber

  • BODHI VILLANELLE

    Sitting beneath the Bodhi tree I wrestle with passing thoughts in an unending struggle with me. The true face of the pain I see results from what I have wrought sitting beneath the Bodhi tree. I grow tired, wish to flee– above all, to avoid being caught in an unending struggle with me for a…

    Lou Faber

  • SEPPO’S TURNING THE WHEEL 正法眼蔵 三十八

    The wisest of men when asked at what time it is best to pursue the Way will answer: when a thousand stars have made their presence known. The wisest student will say: when cleaning myself by bathing in the mud. This will become clear to you when the frog consumes the dragon.

    Lou Faber

  • TAI YRA MANO MOTINA (THIS IS MY MOTHER)

    It’s odd how your stature has grown as I dream of you occasionally staring at your yearbook picture. It was only four years ago that I knew you existed, but hadn’t the faintest idea of who you were, anything about your life, why you gave me up, and, therefore who it was I might have…

    Lou Faber

  • EVENTIDE

    The sky is the leaden gray that denies the sun and threatens the moon’s arrival. It presses down on the roofs of the tallest buildings, wraps them in a depression those on the street below feel without need of looking up. This is a teasing sky, a drop here, there, until we know we are…

    Lou Faber

  • INFINITY

    A three year old can easily understand that a full cup can hold nothing  but an empty cup has an infinite capacity.

    Lou Faber

  • INSTRUCTIONS FOR WALKING MEDITATION (KINHIN)

    You should walk slowly, measure each step, insure your foot is in deep contact with the earth before giving its partner freedom, only to fall victim, in turn, to gravity.  Steady your pace until it merges into your breath and the silence deafens you.

    Lou Faber