an old writer and his words

  • AUDIENS CAVE

    I just want you to know that the Old Man set me up, and I’ll admit that, cagey as I am, I never saw it coming. I mean I knew he was capable of anything, but he always adopted this holier than thou persona so why would I imagine He’d do this? And it wasn’t…

    Lou Faber

  • CULPA

    We should stop blaming the snake. First, do we really want to admit the reptile was that much smarter than we were? More importantly, how long could we have survived wearing the leaves, if anything at all, and eating fruits and vegetables? Okay, I grant you that is all I eat, but by choice and…

    Lou Faber

  • KISO CUTS A SNAKE

    Snakes, like coins, have both head and tail. If I cut a snake in two, have I two snakes, or none at all. Walk carefully for the spade that cuts the snake can dig an inescapable abyss. A reflection on case 86 of the Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • IN THE GARDEN

    He imagined what it must have been like in the garden, before the snake, before the damned apple, though certainly not before the missing rib, that was a complete and utter bore, and yes beauty can be infinitely boring given half a chance. But to be blissfully ignorant, without the burden of knowledge, the taste…

    Lou Faber

  • EVE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

    Cats have more in common with snakes that we care to recognize. She said this with a straight face. He wanted to laugh at her, but dared not. She didn’t take laughter kindly when she thought it was directed at her. He calmly asked her to explain. It’s simple, she said, with feigned patience, both…

    Lou Faber

  • LISTEN UP, ABRAHAM

    A commentary on a holy book suggested snakes cannot hear one another. Perhaps their deafness goes beyond family and species. It would do much to explain God’s rejection of Eve’s proffered excuse that despite her protestations and those of Adam the snake would not take no for an answer – a deaf snake, after all…

    Lou Faber