an old writer and his words

  • SHE

    She is both mother hen and Mother Superior. She is always loving, but she is a harsh taskmaster who wants things done on her schedule and brooks no dissent or excuses. But she reads us well, knows when we require affection, when we need her present or absent. We do not know quite how she…

    Lou Faber

  • LUNA PENDING

    From the heart of the nightthe moon appeared, or a smallcrescent of it, coy this nightas she is on a regular basis. She hinted at her fullness,but we knew that was stilldays off, the moon keptto a rigid schedule always. But her reticence this nightinvited the stars to takethe stage, some we rarely seewhether hiding…

    Lou Faber

  • DINNER PARTY

    Technology has effectivelydestroyed the intimatedinner parties that oncewere the core of a social life. You fretted over whetherthe souffle would collapse,if the wine was chilledto the right temperature,if the entree was back timedsufficiently to allow timefor the hors d’oeuvresand if the guests wouldarrive at the scheduled time. Now it is a fear that Grubhubor Doordash…

    Lou Faber

  • ENSO

    In the interstitial momentbetween birth and deatha universe comes into existence,something that never before existedand existed always, newand well-known, unseenand visible for eternity. Measure it wellfor it is incapable of measurement,and ends without warningand precisely on schedule.In the momentary breaththat marks the transit,we proceed nowhereand cannot return to where we began. Reprised from March 27,…

    Lou Faber

  • TEMPUS

    He divided time into neat,well organized segments, eachprecisely the equivalent of each other,some the perfect sum of lessers.This is how it should be and must behe thought, and it made thingsso much easier for him.He knew when to arrive, andalways knew precisely whattime it was and would be.He couldn’t understand whyothers couldn’t seem to arriveon…

    Lou Faber

  • ONE EVE, NO ADAM

    They arrive ones and twos accrete dissolve reform, swell the cacophony grows takes on a joyousness as they ebb and flow; the food disappears the wine the laughter draws you in and you want only to circulate but how with shifting nuclei and then the scheduled end and hours later the last slips away and…

    Lou Faber

  • SPEAK NOW, OR . . .

    There is a great deal left to be said, and we assume more than enough time for the task, but the ferryman hews to his own schedule and our plans, intentions, desires are beyond his knowledge or caring. It is best to say what you need before recalling that silence is eternal.

    Lou Faber