He was struck first, by the exquisite simplicity of it. No obvious moving parts, nothing projecting from its body, no angles or edges could be found. Its aesthetics were remarkable as well. He imagined countless color schemes it would so easily adopt, each more interesting, some more beautiful, than the last. And he was certain others would find a myriad of uses for it, although he knew that it was intended to be essentially useless. That was a good part of its attraction, how light played off it, the shadows it cast. He would be more than content to sit and stare at it for hours on end. But his damned person always felt the need to throw it, and eventually, irritated enough, go fetch it, yet again.

Louis Faber

is a poet and writer whose work has appeared in The Alchemy Spoon (UK); Arena (Australia); Atlanta Review; Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review; Cantos; Cold Mountain Review; Defenestration Mag; Dreich Magazine (Scotland); Erothanatos (India); Eureka Literary Magazine; European Judaism; Glimpse Poetry Magazine (Toronto); The MacGuffin; Meniscus (Australia); Midnight Mind Magazine; Midstream; New Feathers Anthology; Pearl (Long Beach); Prosetrics (Netherlands); Rattle; South Carolina Review; and The Worcester Review, among many others. His work has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

Find him online at:
https://anoldwriter.com and https://theoldpoet.substack.com

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Absolution, poem by Faber in unleash lit (21 October 2025)

⚡ Laryngitis, prose poem in Dog Throat Journal (26 August 2025)

⚡ Heaven Must Wait in Dipity Lit Mag (4 February 2023)

⚡ How to get your poems published by Louis Faber, on Imaginative Storm (13 September 2025)