an old writer and his words

  • BAREFOOT

    He says his favorite cloudsall wear size seven shoes.He knows she believesshe once saw a paisley rainbowand will never forget it.She wears size seven shoesand her tears can be torrential,yet they can still nurturethe first flowers of spring.He imagines her a butterflysitting on the back of his hand,gossamer wings poisedat the thin edge of stillness.He…

    Lou Faber

  • NEWBORN

    When you first pick her upshe is so much smallerthan you had imagined,fitting comfortably into the crookof an elbow, your handunder her knees.She raises a thin armand stares into andthen through youwith navy blue eyesthat you carry awayin your dreams.She is not fragile,that is the wrong wordfor her size beliesa strength she shareswith you, a…

    Lou Faber

  • LONE STAR

    I feel like I ought to beliving in Texas againfor everything, they say,is bigger in Texas and youdon’t argue with a Texan. So much in my life is bigger nowa computer monitor that wouldpass for a moderate sized TV,with font so large a single pagefills the screen, and the tabletthe size of, but thank Godnot…

    Lou Faber

  • THE TIE’S LAMENT

    I still have the tieI wore to m grandmother’sfuneral, one I conducted,but the suit from that dayis long gone, and just as well,for it would be several sizestoo large for the present me. I’ve only worn the tie oncesince that rainy day in Marylandand then to a weddingto balance out the sadnesswith a bit of…

    Lou Faber

  • POSTDICTIONS

    In the beginning there wasa void, stasis, dimensionless.I am a point, without sizetaking form only in motion,so too the seat on whichI sit on United flight 951not going from point Ato point B for neithercan exist in motiontranscending time. Each decision setsone me on a path, intoa dimension, dimensionswhile I tread a different pathand I…

    Lou Faber

  • SUIBI’S MEANING

    If you ask how can one find the wayI will take youinto the gardento look at the roses.Each rose isof a different sizeand color, but whichis of the right sizeand which the right shade? A reflection on Case 71 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • TIMELESS

    The wonder of clocks in old towns and citiesis that few actually care if the timethey portend is accurate or an approximation. The importance often seems inverselyproportional to the size of the place in whichit is called upon to render a temporal verdict. Best of all are the clocks whose handshave ground to a halt,…

    Lou Faber

  • OPTICAL DELUSION

    As you slowly approach it it grows perceptibly larger. This does not surprise you, for you are familiar with the principles of physics. What does surprise you is that the details grow ever less clear as you approach, as though they retreat under your slow advance. You think this strange, wonder what has gone wrong,…

    Lou Faber