an old writer and his words

  • YOUNGER MAN BLUES

    Going through files of photosI occasionally see a younger manwho is someone I should know. He doesn’t appear often, and Iam fairly certain I was neverthe photographer whenthose photos were taken. He is rather short, often seemsto wear a hat, is otherwiserather nondescript. Still, I would like to talkto him, as I suspect we wouldagree…

    Lou Faber

  • ETHEREAL

    She appeared without notice,not there, then there, shehalf angel, half siren, half mad. She appeared like Casseopaiea’sfaint shadow taking form,stepping out of the sudden fog. She was nymphlike, sylphan,demanding attention, cravingthe eyes of all who passed. No one spoke to her, whetherout of fear or disinterest and shegrew angry, larger still, until the full moon…

    Lou Faber

  • COMING BACK

    He appears, rising from the horizonthe sun at his back, as if a miragetaking physical shape and form. He approaches slowly, your eyesstraining to separate himfrom the sun’s growing glow. You wonder if his is a holy manrobed and with a staff, walkingto announce his long awaited return. As he grows closer, you realizehe is…

    Lou Faber

  • CALLING

    In the dark heart of nighttime is suddenly frozen,the clock’s hands stalactitesand stalagmites, unyieldingdenying the approach of morning,leaving the sun imprisonedunder the watchful gazeof its celestial wardens. It is then you appear,call out to me, beg mebe silent, not askingthe lifetime of questionsI have accreted, providingmy own hopes andimagination for answers,but you have faces, notthose…

    Lou Faber

  • PANDEMIC

    How many today? Fewerthat is a good signbut don’t get overly excited,we’ve been down this roadbefore and we got losteach time we did. And while you are out there,don’t be sure that youcan see where you are going,for vision is iffy, and likeside view mirrors, thingsappear closer than they are. Don’t be despondent, youare better…

    Lou Faber

  • HUANG PO’S GOBBLERS OF DREGS

    You have heard that whenthe student is ready the teacher appears,and you believe you are ready,but no teacher has appeared.I can tell you that you are ready,that you will never be ready,that I am not the teacher,that the teacher is here,and that the teacher will never appear.But the path you seek to findwith a teacher…

    Lou Faber

  • THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 鐵笛倒吹 六十九

    Standing at the window looking down on the street is the passing man enlightened? Call out this question to him. If he looks upward and says yes what do you know of his enlightenment? Looking at a flower is it different than its seed. If you hold a seed in your hand what can you…

    Lou Faber

  • INSIDIOUS

    They come when you least expect them appear seemingly out of nowhere at first so small they go unnoticed but never unheard, for what they lack in size, they make up for in volume. The get beneath your skin, take root, steal into your heart, and find themselves in the brain’s synapses. Before long they…

    Lou Faber

  • WHO?

    I was looking for you, he said, and I was looking for myself she replied, and here we are and neither of us has succeeded in our quest, for I have not found myself, so you cannot find me. I shall stop looking for you, he said and perhaps you will appear. for I am…

    Lou Faber

  • STEPSISTERS

    Perhaps tonight the slightly waning moon will bathe us in her presence. That presupposes the clouds, so very jealous of late, allow her to appear. They, and the unending winter, are the evil stepsisters, and they have neither justice nor compassion for the moon or for us. And so, to save their maleficent case, I…

    Lou Faber