an old writer and his words

  • MINDFUL

    I saw the sunrise this morningover Mt. Hood, theglow that announcedto the horizon its approach.There should bein the life of every man,every woman, that momentwhen seeing dawnlift, peel back the shroudfrom Mt. Hood causes the suddenintake of just that much extra breath. Publshed in As Above, So Below, Issue 9, August 2022https://issuu.com/bethanyrivers77/docs/as_above_so_below_issue_9

    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

  • THEM, AGAIN

    They say that you shouldnever approach or toucha small bird, lest it he shunned,perhaps to death, by your scent. I’ve never been one to listento any “them” with whom Icannot argue face to face,and so seeing the small bird on the ground curledin its nest, staring upat the branch from whichshe parachuted groundward I scoop…

    Lou Faber

  • ISAN’S I HAVE EXHAUSTED MYSELF 正法眼蔵 四十四

    Approach the master sitting on his seat. The fool will seek answers having slept through the lesson but the wise student will bow silently and retreat having learned all there is and knowing absolutely nothing. A reflection on Case 44 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Mind)

    Lou Faber

  • AT THE MARGINS

    Horizons are the thing we have they greatest trouble with. They are omnipresent, immutable and yet move at our approach. They are at once inviting and fear inducing, though now we are largely convinced they do not mark the edge of a precipice over which we would catapult into some endless abyss crossing their margin.…

    Lou Faber

  • AUTUMN

      Once again I can imagine it arriving one morning probably unannounced. I won’t see it coming until I find myself in the middle of it, wrapped up within, always knowing that it will slide away without warning and the leaves will fall in regret.

    Lou Faber