an old writer and his words

  • PEACE

    Today in odd places,at the most unexpected moments,a child will smile without reason,a young girl will laugh,the young boy will strokethe neck of a wandering cat,and in that placeat that momentthere will be a simple peace.Only the children will notice this,though it gives lie to thosewho deem peace impossible.A child knows that it isonly preconceptionsand…

    Lou Faber

  • A QUIET CORNER

    He would see the older man most morningsat the small table in the coffee shopoverlooking the street, hunchedover his New York Times, oftenpen in hand on the crossword.The baristas all knew him, if not by name,saved the table for him be various meansuntil he arrived, when they wouldprepare his carrot muffin and cappuccino.He strained to…

    Lou Faber

  • RYUTETSUMA’S OLD COW

    If you go beforeyour teacherhe may ask you whyyou are there.If you answerhe may turn away.If you sitsilently on the cushionand look at himhis silence and smilewill transmitthe dharma to you. A reflection on Case 60 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • OLD BLIND DOGS

    There are times when music takes youto places and events long forgotten, likelistening to Old Blind Dogs and suddenlyI am again a new L2 with two yearsto the J.D. and bar exam, scratching byteaching SAT prep courses, when she calledand said the proverbial rabbit died and Ifinished and broke out in hives for thiswas planned,…

    Lou Faber

  • RECONSTRUCTIONS

    Night descended on herlike an elevator untethered,her memories in freefall into darkness.She could not forget the storiesthe elder ones quietly told,the numbers always clothed over,their smiles forced or freely given,depending on the directionof the ever-present winds of emotion.She knew she was a prisoner of her past,her inheritance both joys and horrorsinterwoven into the fabric of…

    Lou Faber

  • EYE TO EYE

    So tomorrow he’ll tell meit’s stable and he will smileI think that’s why he wentinto ophthalmology and notoncology, telling patientsthat they have cancer and thensmiling wouldn’t play welland I am willing to bet that hecannot help himself, heis just one of those smilers.And strangely, I will take solacethat my right eye is notappreciably more blindthan…

    Lou Faber

  • HOGEN’S BY BOAT OR LAND

    When the teacher asks youwhy you came to see himwhat will you answer?If you ask him a questionhe will sit silentlywaiting for you to answer.If you simply nodand bow he will smileand you may leave fulfilled. A reflection on Case 51 of The Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • FIRST LOVE

    The morning that I first loved youwas not the morning of the daythat I first told you that I loved you,fear needed a space to bridgeand an ocean served it well.It was not following the dayI first met you, saw you smile,heard you laugh, or perhapsit was and I didn’t notice.It was not the day…

    Lou Faber

  • THUMB

    She asks me howI can be so goodat growing plantswhen she hasno luck at all with them. I pause, as if thinking,try and hide the inwardsmile, and respondI just put themin the ground.I don’t tell herthat I also hopethat the rains will comeoften enoughto keep them alive. And I certainlydo not tell her thatwhen they…

    Lou Faber

  • STILL

    Someone once told me that painis a good way of knowingthat you are still alive.I did want to kill that person,but thought better of it,why not simply smile andleave him in a life of pain.More recently I was toldthat I would get used tomy chronic pain andover time it would seemto hurt less if I…

    Lou Faber