an old writer and his words

  • BEAUTY

    The rose no more knowsits own beautythan the chrysanthemumdoes its scent.The birds will carry the seeds,the bees will pollinate the flowersbut it is left to usto recognize the abject beautynature willingly unfoldsbefore us, it is ourEden, small momentsof perfection which weso often ignore, which weunthinkingly lay waste to,and we who must learnto mourn what we…

    Lou Faber

  • ALIGNMENT

    There was that moment oncewhen everything seemed alignedeverything where it should beand time ceasing to matter.You wondered if this hadhappened before, hopingto grasp the moment, elongatedso that time would slow to a crawl.Now you wonder if that moment,or one just like it, will come again,how would it be different,how would you be different?Was it truly…

    Lou Faber

  • THE NATURAL KEY TO HEAVEN

    The hawk sits on a branchlooking up at the sky, knowingthis is perfection, lifting upchasing a cloud, floating lazily. The butterfly flits from plantto plant, tasting the fruitsthat nature has given her,perfection in a single moment. The cat sleeps on a rockerthe breeze rustling her coat,until waking for dinnerwhich appears at her request. We spend…

    Lou Faber

  • ARIA

    After years of embarrassmentI have finally come into the light.It isn’t that my writing has improved,although I surmise that wouldbe a narrow space to fill,or that I can now draw thingsthat were once stick peopleand animals and things. What has improved, andimproved significantlyis my singing voice, oncea three note range, and onenot known to music,but…

    Lou Faber

  • NOT EVEN CLOSE

    It was Salvador Dali who once said:“Have no fear of perfection,you’ll never reach it.”It might have easily have beenmy creative writing professorin College, although he wouldhave added, “and in your caseI doubt you’ll ever get close.” Well over time I havecertainly proved Dali right,although I’d like to thinkthe esteemed professormissed the mark, butas Cage said,…

    Lou Faber

  • HOUSING CRISIS

    I laid it outwith great care, insuredthat it comported bothwith my idea and sound engineering. I drew it witha draftsman’s pencil,measured each dimensionat least twice, visuallytested every joint. It ws the culminationof a lifetime of trying,my final success, afterwhich I would stop,there being no needto improve on almost perfection. Building it took time,but I completed…

    Lou Faber

  • CLOCKING

    I never expected this, he said. It came from out of nowhere. None of us predicted it. It’s a sort of thing that happens elsewhere, but not here, at least that was our assumption. We certainly never wanted it to come to this. But come it did, and so we accepted it. We learned to…

    Lou Faber

  • KEEP THE NIRVANA

    He was never one to go searching. It took up too much time. It certainly took far more effort than the results usually warranted. And there wasn’t anything in particular he wanted to go in search of. She said she was searching for ecstasy. He said he could buy it downtown, but it had grown…

    Lou Faber

  • A MONESTARY HEAD IS SELECTED 鐵笛倒吹 七十四

    A starving man will prefer a crust of bread over an invitation to a future feast. When asked what you seek, what do you say? When asked why you seek it, what is your answer? When you expect nothing you will not be disappointed. A relection on case 74 of the Iron Flute.

    Lou Faber