an old writer and his words

  • FOLLOW THE TRAIL

    To say that I am a wanderer isto vastly overstate the reality.I have wandered quite a bitin my life, but that wanderingwas always predicated on happenstanceand a true wanderer, by definition,wanders with the intent of doing so.I was never looking for anythingmerely a sense of direction, an ideaof how I got to this point, whatforces…

    Lou Faber

  • DEALING WITH IT

    How strange it was today to takethe younger of our two cars, this onesoon to be ten, but low milageby anyone’s standards,under 2,000 miles a year,to the dealer after needinga jump start on a battery lessthan a year old, and knowing froma lifetime of such visits the havocthey wreak on your wallet, and thenwaiting more…

    Lou Faber

  • THE HERMIT

    The hermit livesin the shadowof the great mountainlistening to the symphonyof the bluebirdand the wild Roseengulfed by the sky,the meandering streamhis constant companion.I live in a cityin a sea of city dwellerseach of us prisonersmarching from cellto cell, with passing nods.we hear only solitudeand are blindto the ever shifting clouds.Kuan Yin sitsin her templeand whispers…

    Lou Faber

  • TY NEWYDD

    People wondered why I traveledto a remote part of Walesfor a writing workshopwhen there were a limitless supplyat home or in touristy places in the US.I could tell them I was impressedwith the two teachers, I could sayI was to be in Lloyd George’s home.I could say all of that, but in truthalthough I didn’t…

    Lou Faber

  • HARD TIME

    I was only in jail once,then for four hours, no chargesand my biggest fear was thatmy parents would find out,or the cops would determinethat I was only 17 and breakingthe park curfew was noteven a misdemeanor. They let me go, gave mea ride back to the park,told me not to go in butI wouldn’t at…

    Lou Faber

  • AGING

    We live in the cell phone ageand there are hidden advantagesthat the young, exchanginglast year’s model for this,will never fully understanduntil they, too, are much older. With the push of a button,held in for five seconds,the phone will go off at night,and since no one any longerhas a landline, you are assuredthat no one will…

    Lou Faber

  • SUMMER, THEN

    For three days I was a short order cook a change from my table duties when the regular guy decided that a night of drinking didn’t end when the bar closed and broke back in through the rotting back door that was always next on the list of things to be fixed. The owner, my…

    Lou Faber

  • MONOCHROME

    It is an admittedly odd sign of my age that I recall clearly when bathrooms were tiled mostly in monochrome, black and white, and it was a mark of quality when each tile was hexagonal, a hive of ceramic cells, impenetrable. Now tiles are square or rectangular, come in a rainbow of colors, often intermixed…

    Lou Faber