an old writer and his words

  • TOO SOON

    NOTE: My new book is here at last. It has been 16 years in the making, nine of which I have spent producing this blog. Since you have been following and reading my work which I appreciate, if you would like a copy Free of the Shadow for $10 (shipping included) rather than its list…

    Lou Faber

  • CELESTIAL AWE

    He says that there isa really good chance thatso much of astronomyis delusion, that allof astronomy is history.Go out in the countrywhere there are nostreetlights and lookat the sky and the multitudeof stars that you see.There are atlases listingthe name or numberof each of them butstop and realize howmany of them nowno longer exist as…

    Lou Faber

  • NAMING

    We save the height of absurdity for the naming of countries, although we do practice the absurd in naming cities and places. Except in the zoo no one has seen a Buffalo in Western New York. And there is nothing at all humorous about Yeehaw Junction Florida. But we save the best for countries. Why…

    Lou Faber

  • ONLY ONCE

    I don’t know who decided that we,as a group would go to the jai alai frontonthat evening, but as the junior-most memberof the management team it seemedat that moment less of a request or evenan invitation and more a command performance.I knew nothing about jai alai and the namesof the players, all in Portuguese might…

    Lou Faber

  • ISLANDS

    I always loved visiting Japan,the Temples of Senso-ji, Todai-jiothers so small their names fadedas I walked away from them,for while I was gaijin, my zenmade them feel less alien.I enjoyed visits to Hawaii,the lushness of the landscape,the old whaling town, nowreduced to ash and ruin,the lava desert of the big island,the volcanoes, live and dormant.Everyone…

    Lou Faber

  • WRITING

    I wrote my namein the waterof a still pondpracticing untileach letter wasperfectly shaped.I smiledat my signatureas a morningshower rippled itto the surroundshores.

    Lou Faber

  • A QUIET CORNER

    He would see the older man most morningsat the small table in the coffee shopoverlooking the street, hunchedover his New York Times, oftenpen in hand on the crossword.The baristas all knew him, if not by name,saved the table for him be various meansuntil he arrived, when they wouldprepare his carrot muffin and cappuccino.He strained to…

    Lou Faber

  • HAGAR’S SON

    Did you so fear being Hagarthat you deemed me Esau, stolemy birthright, my name, my pastand cast me off into a wilderness?I knew nothing of this, your secrettaken with you to the grave as you wished.Did you consider that I might beIshmael, never knowing my father,adopted into a culture that wouldnever be mine, a child…

    Lou Faber

  • RINZAI’S TRUE MAN

    If I ask youwho you are, howwill you answer?If you give me your name,that is not the answerfor your name is a wordand you are not a word.If you tell me whatyou have done, thatis not the answer,for those are actions.If you sit silentlyon the cushionthat is the answer. A reflection on Case 38 of…

    Lou Faber

  • ISAN’S KARMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

    If the Master sees youand calls out your name,will you answer?If you ask him a questionand he does not respond,is that his answer?And if he does answerhow do you knowif the answer is correct?If you ask him nothingall his answers are perfect. A reflection on Case 37 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber