an old writer and his words

  • THAT MOMENT

    I remember the first moment whenthe ophthalmologist told me my maculardegeneration in one eye had gonefrom dry to wet. I probably felt momentary fear.I had read enough to know that when one eyegoes, there is a fair likelihood the otherwill eventually follow, and wet AMDgenerally results in blindness.I have lost central vision in that eyebut…

    Lou Faber

  • NO NOAH

    The rains have now begunand while they are not yet Biblicaland may never be, we know theyare simply a tease of whatis coming in the next days.Milton is a monster, they say,his reputation as impetuoushas already preceded him,and I am not one to argue finepoints with nature, she is fickleand always manages to win.So we…

    Lou Faber

  • IF ONLY

    Were we birds we wouldhave our talons dug so deeplyinto the soil, our wings unableto lift us into a waiting skyfrom our gravitation prison.The egrets peer down at usfrom a thousand hued blue skycloudless again this dayas a maleficent sun glaresdown on us as we slowlybake in the oven we createdby our malfeasant stewardshipof nature’s…

    Lou Faber

  • SHEPHERDING

    Today I paused to considerhow odd it must be for thoseborn, bred and always livingin a city, say New York, andto sill be a lover of poetry.So many poets, from Keatsto Hirshfield will take youinto nature, bathe you in wordsbeneath a star lit sky, sit youin a meadow, breathing airthat has never known the exhaustof…

    Lou Faber

  • I QUIT

    Nature joined me uninvited this morningas I sat on the lanai overlooking whatonce was a bird filled wetland, now grownover with Carolina willow andthe too frequent Brazilian Cherry.“The birds have given up on you,”I thought I heard nature say, “I supposeyou miss them?”. “Terribly,” I said“for they were a part of me that hasnow withered…

    Lou Faber

  • NOAA’S ARK

    The rain finally fell today, a delugeworthy of Noah but NOAA assures usthis is only a three day storm and the nextthirty-seven will not mirror it, at leastnot fully they think they believe.The weather here, the outer skinof nature, is too often a petulant childforever not satisfied with how things are,wanting things different, wantingmore, wanting…

    Lou Faber

  • A PLEASURE

    The phone rang as I stepped from the shower. Soon dry, I listened to the voice of my neighbor saying a long slithery snake was crawling up my gutter’s downspout. This I had to see and I did, phone camera in hand. He was about four feet long, kinked and moving slowly. He studied me,…

    Lou Faber

  • CYNICS BEWARE

    A cynic would say that naturegave many animals a short lifespanso they would not have to sufferour presence for too long a period.Some say it was just to give usdominance over other species,but to them I have to say stopand consider that our life spanis short in the scope of thingsbut that is simply because…

    Lou Faber

  • NOT HERE

    There were those January nights whenwinter wrapped us in its chill, but withdrewits frequent blanket of clouds, and Iwould go outside peering throughthe fog of my breath and lookinto the sky at the aurora borealis,watching the electrons danceon a black scrim dotted with myriad stars.Years later and miles away I missthe occasional night shows for…

    Lou Faber

  • SUBJECTION

    We have now fully masteredsubjection, some say we havedone it so often it is nowinherent in our nature.It is hard to argue that pointand we are now practicing iton more than other groups,we have turned our practiceon nature and her species.Birds are a perfect example.Applying our tried and truemethods we have slowly takentheir territory, forcing…

    Lou Faber