an old writer and his words

  • REFRAMED DREAMS

    In my reframed dreamI am sitting in a smoky bar,bathed in the neon of Roppongi.with the sour smell of Sapporo and Asahiwafting up from the beer-damp floor.I don’t want to be here, wantto be miles and miles from this placein the shadows of Mount Wakakusawalking slowly through Todai-jiin search of something I haveyet to find,…

    Lou Faber

  • JUST IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT

    Imagine that they could see youbehind the velvet ropes, staringat them slack-jawed, at the opulenceand the excess that was ancient Egypt.We stare at the sarcophagi, at the goldthrone chair and jewel encrusted gods,imagining ourselves able to affordluxury on that remarkable scale,we more the slaves out of sightbreaking our backs to build the tombsthat would someday…

    Lou Faber

  • TY NEWYDD

    In the gently aging house,replete with writersthere are endless roomsin which the muse dartsdispensing her soul.I prefer to sit with the catcurled in an overstuffed chairher head risingand falling imperceptiblyour breaths harmonic.We commune in unspoken dialoga language of silencebespeaking volumesof our shared existence. First published in The River, Sandy River Review, March 2024https://sandyriverreview.com/2024/03/30/seeing-you-again-next-stop-riding-ty-newydd/

    Lou Faber

  • KNOWLEDGE

    I suppose I ought not be shockedwhen my grandson, all of twelve,explains to me the conceptof the expanding universe, norwhen asked about the capitalof Burundi fires back Gitegaand adds that Burundi has threeofficial languages, English, Frenchand of course Kirundi, and I nodhoping my ignorance isn’t obvious.I don’t dare ask how he knowslest he says everyone…

    Lou Faber

  • SENSO-JI

    Walking slowly through the Hozomon GateSenso-ji lies before me, as if to say thisis your home in Tokyo, you are welcome here.I pause to take a photograph and realize thatto the Japanese here I am one more gaijinalthough I do not carry the shopping bagsthat most do from their fascination withthe stalls that crowd the…

    Lou Faber

  • FAIR WARNING

    There are many lessons you learnduring even a moderately full life.Some of great value, others trifles,but each unique in some way, henceit being a lesson at all and notan echo of what you already knew.One lesson I clearly recall is that younever, after eating a meal of Japanese foodwith far too much sake, tell the…

    Lou Faber

  • DOWN UNDER

    Whenever I heard Rolf Harris sing “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport,” I had to wonder just what the kangaroo would make of that request. They aren’t the most patient of mammals and I knew few people who could hope to outrun one if it were intent on making a getaway. And I have never known…

    Lou Faber

  • BASHO IN GALWAY

    Basho wanted to be in Kyotowhen he was in Kyotobut perhaps it was the cuckoothat led him to think thathe might be elsewhere, perhapsnot even in Japan althoughhe had never left Japan.I had the same feeling aboutIreland, except that thenI had never been in Ireland.I know, now, it was my genesthat wanted to be in…

    Lou Faber

  • ARCHEOLOGY

    On a belated honeymoon in Italywe wandered around the Roman Forumamazed at the ruins, imagining how theylooked once, how they had fallen so, eatenaway by time and endless stares of touristswho only wanted to touch history as ifit would grant them momentary immortality.Friends visiting Turkey sent picturesof the Hagia Sophia and that, in turn,returned my…

    Lou Faber

  • HOMEGROWN

    He only wanted to know if there wereplaces I had always wantedto visit but never gone, and didI still plan on going there.I could have asked “why that question”but he was someone who never traveled,was born, bred and would likely diein this city, content that it hadeverything of value that the worldcould possibly offer such…

    Lou Faber