an old writer and his words

  • SLIPPAGE

    As sight slowly slips away, asthe macula continues its retreat,the sense of your senses must change.We are driven by sight; and sound, tastetouch and smell are really just valued adjuncts.The Bard of Avon suggested that the eyesare windows to the soul, and oh how manyseers want to help you look into the future.We are told…

    Lou Faber

  • AMUSEMENT

    Life, he said with his ever present smile,is very much like an amusement park.The preacher, priest, rabbi standsat the ticket booth, gladly taking your moneyand telling you to have a good time,but reminding you of the penaltyfor not following the rules he or shehands you, neatly bound and printedin longer or shorter versions dependingon who…

    Lou Faber

  • HOGEN’S SUBSTANCE AND NAME

    As you wander searchingfor that dharma you believeyou need to attain enlightenmentyou may ask many teachersto point you to the dharma.Some will point to the ground,others to the sky, butthe wise teacher willtell you there is no dharmayou can grasp so pleasestop looking for nothing,it has already found you. A reflection on Case 74 of…

    Lou Faber

  • CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

    Walking back through my lifeI can now begin to see when and wherethings changed, where I changed, wherethe place I thought of as my homebecame alien, altered, as thoughthe weathering of time wore awaywhat I now know were carefully appliedveneers, real enough seeming to meand to others who stopped to visit.And when the music changed…

    Lou Faber

  • LINGER

    Sitting in the mall strip plaza coffee shopworking my way slowly through a nonfat cortadoI stared at the everything bagel lyingforlornly on the saucer, its thin coatof peanut butter wishing, as I did, that itwas a spread of cream cheese, all of thisa portent of a difficult day to follow, as ifpunishment for a former…

    Lou Faber

  • SLAINTE

    Ireland should have felt alien,but it never did during our visit,nor had Scotland years earlier.And it wasn’t that I loved Scotchand Irish Whiskey and Guinnessalthough I did all of those, andtraditional Celtic music to boot.What I didn’t know then, whatI wouldn’t learn for a decadewas that my taste for thingsIrish and Scottish was woven,twisted into…

    Lou Faber

  • AI EH?

    Please be aware that this poemwas not generated by nor wasthe writing assisted by Generative AI.The words and thoughts are mine,and mine alone so there is no machineintelligence to take the blame forwhat I might or might not say.I wanted to assure you of thisand thought of ways I could insurethat you would believe me,…

    Lou Faber

  • SOZAN’S REQUITED FILIAL PIETY

    When you set out on the pathleaving so much behind,will you continue to graspwhat you have lost or lookonly at what you havein this moment and this?If you cling to whatyou have willinglygiven up you will beforever lost in mourningwhat no longer isand frozen, unable to proceed. A reflection on Case 73 of The Book…

    Lou Faber

  • PINNING HOPES

    As a child I always avoidedpins, and not becauseI feared at all getting stuck,that could be a small badgeof courage, no my fearwas what might be onthe head of that pin or this.It was more elementalthan that, it raised an almostexistential issue that I wasnot yet prepared to deal with.But I had it on good…

    Lou Faber