an old writer and his words

  • CAT PEOPLE

    We spent one morningof our visit to Key West wanderingaround Hemingway’s home. The six-toed cats seemed to realizethat we were cat people, cameover to us, took us asidefor a petting and conversation. He was a tough old goat,they said, or so our ancestorstold itm and we cannot beginto understand why you,cat people, so obviously intelligentwould…

    Lou Faber

  • ABOVE IT ALL

    The cat likes nothing betterthan to sit atop the kitchen cabinetswithin easy reach of the ceiling. We thought at first it wasa place of safety, less to fearin a new home, new people. We know better now, for shegoes to high places, cabinetsbookcases, when the meditation bell rings., She’ll climb down afterthe ending bell rings,…

    Lou Faber

  • DON’T MIND

    Both the great ape and the chimpanzeesay they have been horribly malignedby Buddhist teachers of all people. They point out that they have beenmeditating since the Buddha satbeneath the bodhi tree and was enlightened. They are capable of deep thought,are clearly as sentient as people, they claim with some evidence in support. Why is it, they…

    Lou Faber

  • A LESSON TO TEACH

    This is what I would tell my sons:“You came from an ancient people,a heritage of poetsand tailors, or thievesand blasphemers,of callous menand slaughtered children.I would give you these books,written by God, some have said,although I am doubtfulbut driven by Erato, without doubt.” This is what I would tell my sons:“I didn’t go to war —there were so many…

    Lou Faber

  • HAKUUN’S BLACK AND WHITE 鐵笛倒吹 十四

    Like Hakuunshun the city,flee the townsand find a homein the forest onlyin the deepest partof winter, butdo not shun peoplein your solitude. Write versesof total silenceand dig deeply intonewly fallen snow.Let it drift over youuntil you black hairis all that appearson an endless field of white. A reflection on case 14 of the Iron Flute…

    Lou Faber

  • THE MIND’S BLIND EYE

    He imagined the end was coming,but that was his problem, imaginingfor it was about all he was capable of doing. He started small, near visualizationmore than imaginings, but he grew moreproficient with practice, his ideas his conceptions of an increasinglygrander scale, until from a single threadhe could weave a tapestry that boggled even his mind,…

    Lou Faber

  • PERSONIFICATION

    The black cat walked by the patio again today. He won’t stop and engage no matter how hard I try to talk to him. Some cats are haughty and this one clearly isn’t deaf. Some say it is feral, but it’s too well groomed for that. More likely it has spent too much time with…

    Lou Faber

  • BY DECREES

    As King, newly appointed, he mulled over what to do for his first official act. The predecessor King was known to be much a recluse, one who tolerated people as a necessity of a Kingdom, and he would say, a good source of revenue to the King. That one didn’t last long, never imagined the…

    Lou Faber

  • ABRIDGED STORY

    On our first visit to Prague it was almost hard to imagine that this bridge was built to ferry people and traffic across the River. Now it is jammed with tourists and those for whom tourists are a ubiquitous market, and anyone needing to expeditiously cross the cranky water that every now and again must…

    Lou Faber

  • PIQUE

    One of these days soon the sun will again get angry, will blow off steam and all manner of signals will get the message loud if not clearly. The sun can get away with it and we accept it, if not willingly but begrudgingly. When we blow off such steam cities melt, and the angry…

    Lou Faber