an old writer and his words

  • FORWARD

    As a child I was quite fondof staring into the futurefor hours on end, whenmy parents told meto get my head out of booksand go outside to play. I never could see muchin my staring, thoughtI was probably myopicbut my parents said Icouldn’t need glasses, theycost far too muchfor someone my age. I realize now,…

    Lou Faber

  • RETIRED

    God sits at his easel, brush in handand thinks about the butterflyalighting on the oak.This man would rather paintthe nightmare of hell, buthe has been cast out andhis memory has grown dim.He remembers being a small childamused by the worm peeringfrom soil in a fresh rain and howwhen he split it, both halveswould slither awayin…

    Lou Faber

  • EMERGENT

    When I least expect it, onemay unfurl wings and liftinto a clouded sky searchingfor the hidden sun, or it may wander off, a childmomentarily free of parentsoff to discover the real world, or it may retreat back intothe pen, unwilling to be seen,objecting to its misuse, or it may sit in front of the TVand…

    Lou Faber

  • A PERFECT STILLNESS

    You lie there, perfectly still,the morning breeze slides awayleaving the sun to stare down,and the birds fall into silence.  I gently touch the stone, feelyour cheek beneath my finger,see your face, the college yearbookphoto all that I have of you.  I speak silently to you, tellingof my sixty-seven years, of yourgrandsons and great grandchildrenand I…

    Lou Faber

  • UNGAN’s NOT ANY SINGLE WORD

    The youngest child,her mind uncluttered,can answer any questionunburdened by words,her answers reboundacross the universe.If you stop strugglingto hear her, letthe silence surroundyou both, you cannotescape the answers A reflection on case 84 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • LUNAR LUNCH

    Even as a child I wasreasonably certain thatthe moon wasn’t madeof green cheese as someof my friends said, becauseeven if it was cheese, Iwas sure it would be eitherRoquefort or Gorgonzola. No one had beento the moon back then,nothing had marred its surface,so we took the scientistson faith that it wassomething other than cheese. Now…

    Lou Faber

  • JOSHU’S CYPRUS TREE

    A young childdoes not ask for meaning,all things areas they areuntil they are not.The foolishness of agecauses men to starein search of meaningthey will never find.It is the blind manwho will find the diamond. A reflection on case 119 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye) Koans

    Lou Faber

  • A PAINFUL REMINDER

    I had it good, I had it easy, I would be the first to admit it, to save you the trouble of reminding me, more by way of illustrating how badly you had it. I’ll concede you had it rough,  money always  tight, but you  never were, never would be a Jewboy although you  and…

    Lou Faber

  • FLIGHT

    As a young child, I always imaginedmyself a bird, poised to take wingthe next time my parents told meI couldn’t do what I wanted,to swoop around, out of their grasp,until it was time for lunch or dinner. Years later my dream was to bea pilot, Air Force not Navy, I mightget seasick and that isn’t…

    Lou Faber

  • ADOPTION

    Without choice, I, evicted from the wombNot cast aside, despite what I would see,Too soon carried into an unknown room and gladly taken up, offsetting gloom,and soon another child, I becoming we.Without choice, I evicted from the womb was there to watch him fall into his tomb,leaving her with grief weighing heavily.Too soon carried into…

    Lou Faber