LETTERS TO CAMUS

Letters to Camus

A dialogue across time

by Curio Athena

⸻

Preface: Letters to a Friend, Philosopher, and Guide

These are my letters to a friend, philosopher, and a guide.

He lives next to me —

mostly on my bed.

He doesn’t speak,

but expresses beautifully —

through words,

through ideas.

Revolutionary ones.

I don’t understand all of him,

but the little that I do —

makes me feel alive.

In those moments,

I ask him to stop.

I talk back.

Sometimes I agree;

at other times, I try to understand.

Because he and I

lived different lives,

we cannot disagree —

only understand.

With much love,

Curio Athena

⸻

I. Dear Ac

Dear Ac,

Lighten up.

Life has no meaning,

and I couldn’t agree more.

I, too, believe in the absurd —

in the humanity of wanting answers

when life only asks, what for?

But true religion — or God, as some call it —

exists and stays with us.

We look outward,

but it is within.

You say there is nothing to search for,

that life simply happens —

and in spite of it, we must soar.

But what if I say:

don’t soar — listen.

Don’t leap — understand.

Search for the one within.

It is not unknown.

It is where you will be one.

— Curio Athena

⸻

II. Curio Calling Camus

The ideal of an Everyman —

that is you.

You write sometimes,

but mostly, you let your soul dictate the words —

that is you.

You lived a bitter life,

yet found peace in your strife.

I have been reading your mind

through Sisyphus.

It was tough.

I imagined him happy —

but then I thought of you.

You wrote from an experienced life:

rough edges,

hearts ailing.

But despite it all,

you were speaking your truth.

There is compassion in your calling.

You were writing to soothe.

— Curio Athena

⸻

III. The Calling

I tried to find my calling.

But then I read Camus.

I gave it up —

and became it.

— Curio Athena

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