an old writer and his words

  • CLINGING

    The small snail clings to the wallof the hotel room balcony, deafto the roar of the surf only yards away.He knows where he is going, knowshis purpose for being here.He moves at a pace youwould expect of a snail,and by the time we leavein two days he will haveprogressed, but it willbe impossible for us…

    Lou Faber

  • THE POWER

    You tell methat the keyto the universeresides in E.To Einsteinit was simplea point from whichthe universe arisesits final catafalque.How, I ask,can symbolic failurebe critical,what is so specialabout fivewhy ought I carefor the third degreeof a natural scaleI cannot hopeto ascend.Perhaps it isonly your eccentricity.You tell meto refine my visionto consult Eulerbut it is fartoo transcendentalfor…

    Lou Faber

  • FROM 1 TO 10

    Modern medicine has made great advancesbut there are still things that seemabsolutely, positively medieval.The chairs in the waiting roomborder on almost comfortable,but in the examining room,since you haven’t yet been invitedup onto the padded table,the chairs are utilitarian at best.And then the moment when the docasks about your pain leveland you eventually sort outwhen he…

    Lou Faber

  • WALLS

    It is one thingto build a wallthat othersstop and admire,yet make ithigh enoughthey don’lt thinkof climbing over it. Walls are meantto keep, inor out is neverclear, and actuallyit is always both,for a walltakes no sides,a silent sentinel. And no wallis impenetrableand unscalablesave that surroundingthe heartless oneswho are destinedto die alonein anger.

    Lou Faber

  • ELEMENTAL, MY DEAR

    In the elemental scheme of things we humans are, at best, middling. We are minute in the scale of the universe, our time not even a glimmer, and as we age, time contracts, but only in the shortening forward direction. But pity the poor hydrogen-7 isotope whose life is likely over in 30 yactoseconds, absorbing…

    Lou Faber