an old writer and his words

  • HARBINGER

    I am slowly going blind.I may, with luck, never get thereif saying that has not already jinxed me.Going blind as you ageis rather fitting in a strange wayfor as the memory slips and peoplefade from its cornersand alcoves, when I can nolonger see them they are also gone.So if, one day, I see youand do…

    Lou Faber

  • THAT MOMENT

    I remember the first moment whenthe ophthalmologist told me my maculardegeneration in one eye had gonefrom dry to wet. I probably felt momentary fear.I had read enough to know that when one eyegoes, there is a fair likelihood the otherwill eventually follow, and wet AMDgenerally results in blindness.I have lost central vision in that eyebut…

    Lou Faber

  • GOING SLOWLY

    It is a simple fact that I amlikely going blind, but onlyslowly so far, one eye witha hole in its vision, but outsideits event horizon, largely normal.It is odd that when you know youwill likely lose your sight thatbecomes less scary, you approachit as something new, testingyour vision constantly butlooking more closely, takingin details you…

    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

  • ACROSS A BORDER

    I can only begin to imagine, vicariously,what it is like to cross the borderinto the land of deafness, hear all you knewfade and garble, need vision to seewhat a speaker is saying, wonder whysongs you thought you knew nowhave lyrics you do not recognize at all.My wife is on this journey and nowhas a cochlear…

    Lou Faber

  • FETCH

    I think I stopped going to partiesbecause I grew tired of hearing howso many other’s lives had gone to hell,how they hated their jobs, and a fewhated their significant others and hopedto make them insignificant othersif they could ever get the courageto leave or ship them out, butmaybe it was just because Istopped getting invited…

    Lou Faber

  • SLIPPAGE

    As sight slowly slips away, asthe macula continues its retreat,the sense of your senses must change.We are driven by sight; and sound, tastetouch and smell are really just valued adjuncts.The Bard of Avon suggested that the eyesare windows to the soul, and oh how manyseers want to help you look into the future.We are told…

    Lou Faber

  • TOGETHER

    It is easy to say all of the wrong thingsto someone you imagine disabled,some obvious, some less so, butstop and consider if that personhas a partner, a lover, a spouse.What do you say to that personwho lives with the same disability,not wearing it but bearing itto a lesser degree nonetheless?As I lose my vision, my…

    Lou Faber

  • THERE

    It is thereit always has beenand as a childyou saw it clearlyas all children do.When did your eyesgrow blind to it,when did you thinkit disappeared.It is there,you can grasp itif you are willingto reach deeplywithin, to see itin the greater lightwithout your eyes.It is therewaiting for you,has been all along,what will you do ,what can…

    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