an old writer and his words

  • TANKA, TANKA, HAIKU

    The dawn sky arrivesvelvet blue on my fingersand the gathered birdshear the cobalt song of dayin this our private heaven On this sapphire nightstars search for the missing moonthe blue sky of dawnis still deeply in hidingfrom night’s moment of glory Oceans remembera time before we arrivedtheir once deep blueness

    Lou Faber

  • WATCHING

    We stand together on the precipiceknowing soon nothing will be as it wasfor her and I, a supportive observer only.In moments the world she knew willcollapse possibly, replaced by somethingno one has been able to describe to her.She is excited for this new world butthere is a fear she cannot shake for sheis venturing where…

    Lou Faber

  • AROUNDING

    He had no idea why hehad chosen this place, hadno memory of how he had gotten here.The night sky poured forthits endless cascade of stars,bathed him in the waves of the cosmos.He reached up as if to touch heaven,knowing he was an insignificant beingon an inconsequential bit of rock and magma.that the gods had long…

    Lou Faber

  • AND TONIGHT

    This should be Paris, he thought,dancing alone in the Tuileries, orEngland, looking down on the Thamesperched atop the London Eye.This was how he imagined it, nottrapped in the madding crowd, everyonefrantically multitasking, searchingfor nirvana or a release from boredom,from the quest for monetary meaningthat had trapped them in a maze withno exit or end point,…

    Lou Faber

  • AMUSEMENT

    Life, he said with his ever present smile,is very much like an amusement park.The preacher, priest, rabbi standsat the ticket booth, gladly taking your moneyand telling you to have a good time,but reminding you of the penaltyfor not following the rules he or shehands you, neatly bound and printedin longer or shorter versions dependingon who…

    Lou Faber

  • YOU ARE HERE

    You find yourself nowhere, and notin the middle of it but on the peripherywaiting for an exit, unsure howyou arrived here or why you stayed.This could be a wonderland but there isno rabbit hole, and the cat curled in sleeplying at your feet has never been to Chesireand says she has no desire to ever…

    Lou Faber

  • THIS WEEK

    This week I will be Presbyterian.One week a month I becomea follower of a different faithand it was Presbyterian’s turn.I’m not certain what I will benext month, Lutheran perhaps, ormaybe I’ll go with Episcopalian.I haven’t been that in a while.Most of the time I’m a practicingZen Buddhist, sitting dailyon my cushion looking at the walland…

    Lou Faber

  • TODAI-JI

    On the steps of the Templethe unexpected morning snowwhich cast a threadbare blanketover the gates and lanternsrecedes slowly like a supplicantwhose prayers have been offered.The candle flames shiverin the strong February windwhile the Buddha sits, implacable.In the park below a dragon kitetakes the wind and swoops and dartshigher and higher, staring downat the Temple and…

    Lou Faber

  • THE NEW GODS

    From their two-bedroom apartmenton the outer edge of Cupertino,the Gods evicted from Olympusare creating their pulsating metahell.They know how easily we, lemmingsenchanted by the sparkling void,offer ourselves up in sacrifice, alwayswanting still another gigabyte,entranced by the idea of the Deusex machina, blind to our own truth.They promise us eternity, a heavenof a parallel binary universe,redemption…

    Lou Faber

  • UNUSUAL

    I recall it wasn’t as cold as usualthat early November evening, Iwas standing nervously on the small deckin front of the Indian restaurant.This was going to be my fourthfirst date of my lifetime, notsurprising in the abstract, unlessyou realize that put me on an averageof one every twelve years.Fast forward almost three yearsand I am…

    Lou Faber