an old writer and his words

  • ANCESTRY

    Children have an innate senseof their ancestry.I was a child of the cityit’s streets my paths, alwaysunder the watchful eyeof my warden – mother. Dirt was to be avoidedat all possible cost,so I never dug my handsinto the fertile soil of myvillage in the heart of Lithuania,or tasted the readying harvestthat dirt would remember. I…

    Lou Faber

  • Bodhidharma’s Mind 無門關 四十一

    Walk slowly up to Bodhidharmabut do not pull him awayfrom the wall before which he sits.Keep your arms close about youlest you cannot graspwhat he will ask. Hold tight to your mndfor it will grow still onlyas it slips through your fingersWhen you see it fade awaySamadhi bathes you. A reflection on Case 41 of…

    Lou Faber

  • UNMOVED

    In the community parking lotin the center of Taos,and old pickup sat complacentmore than parked, rustingin spots, last paintedby someone in the late ‘70sperhaps. It might havebeen able to move, but itshowed no desire to do so,tires not flat but wishing so. That was thirteen years ago,and it is likely no longerthere, or collapsed into…

    Lou Faber

  • SONNET TO A PORTUGUESE

    You came into my life last week, your nameforever locked away inside her mind.My life, she felt, would never be the sameand therefore left all thought of you behind.You loved her, I suppose, that summer nightthen left her, bearing me, until she turnedme over for adoption, that she mightforget the love that you so quickly…

    Lou Faber

  • NO BACKS

    As you age, your vision changes,and not merely that of your eyes,for you necessarily becomenear sighted about many things. Of course you dread the fact that youcould be myopic if circumstancesconspire against you, barely ableto be IN and remember the moment. Even those healthy take to mythology,and astronomy, wishing they wereTitan, living life in retrograde,…

    Lou Faber

  • STATISTIC

    Today, now many,yesterday, tomorrow, how many? We have grown tired of countingthe mind cannot deal with numbersof that magnitude, Stalin was correct,it is all statistics now, and bodies,always more bodies, never enough,always too many, by violencein the street, in the economy,in the courthouse, in the COVID ward,there are too many places now,where the dead gather,…

    Lou Faber

  • LURKER

    It is there waiting, no doubtanother trap, simple initially seeming purebut harboring a malevolence that willsoon consume you, leave you broken,so considering the pen as a weapon,to lay waste to it, or for seppuku,both thoughts will no doubt come to mind. It has always been like this, always will,different if you chose the digital path,but…

    Lou Faber

  • NANSEN’S NOTHING SPECIAL

    Her greetingis met with silence.His greetingis met with silence.Your touchis met with greeting.You want to fly,curse the Earthfor holding you,while it is your mindthat is youronly anchor. A reflection on case 87 of the Shobogenzo, Dogen’s True Dharma Eye Koans

    Lou Faber

  • WITHIN WITHOUT

    Today I pausedand had a conversationwith my mind, and found itremarkably enlightening.It wasn’t a terribly long talkfor I quickly ran out of things to sayand I would have swornit had heard them all beforeand anticipated me fully.In the end though,I did have one advantageand simply got upand walked awayand that caught itwholly by surprise.

    Lou Faber

  • KANNON’S STATUE 鐵笛倒吹 語十八

    If you meet the Bodhisattvayou don’t ask someoneto carve the image from your mind.To the carver, she weighs but an ounceand can be carriedon his fingertipbut try and lift herand you will not be ableto move her from her place. All Buddhasare one Buddhabut his Buddhawill never beyour Buddha. A reflection on Case 58 of…

    Lou Faber