Letters to Camus
A dialogue across time
by Curio Athena
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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
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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
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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
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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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