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  Aug 7 Kairos
Rudyard Kipling
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
  But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
  Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
  And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
  If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
  Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
  And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
  And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
  And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
  To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
  Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
  Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
  If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
  With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
  And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Kairos Aug 6
Where I come from - food looks perfect but always tastes watery.
Here, cucumber and tomatoes have mineral arteries.

Nomadic crypto bros enjoy fruity conversations.
French girls showing me apps that map constellations.

It's funny how new connections still leave me in solitude.
Even when the reasons for leaving home seem to collude.

All we see and feel is ultimately our own.
Promising futures in our countries have sadly flown.

Most seem to be fleeing, rather than becoming.
I've never been religious - but this must be my second coming.

I enjoy the relief of not weighing anyone's opinion.
Living fully, no longer my ego's minion.

First nights spent silently at a jazz festival.
Instead of hiding and crying - behind my self-built wall.

I've been afraid of writing without a broken soul as the source.
I hope you find your strength - you too, could do it of course.

No need to be like me, leaving everything behind.
Maybe just for once, to yourself, simply be kind.

I wish I could share this feeling of love.
Believe me when I say: your life can in fact fit like a glove.
I've always been overly self aware (and still am now) but now the thoughts I can finally bear


Everything is temporary, that includes depression.
  Aug 6 Kairos
Kalliope
He was somber for most of his life
Until one day, he simply said no-
He wanted to explore, to be as he is,
Not swallowing storms just to cope.

So he'll make the changes, and drive all the miles,
Blue eyes lighting up in the sun-
Feeling lighter with every breath,
His traveling soul on the run.

He’ll gather stories of a life well-lived,
Dark days fading into the past-
A history he once held way too tightly,
Now softened by joy at last.

Maybe he’ll sing after drinks at the bar,
Or trade tales with unguarded delight.
And though it’s all so wonderfully new-
You can tell by his face: It’s just right.
There's not a playbook on how life should be
Let go and follow your truth, life is better lived free
Kairos Aug 5
Looking back at my first week in Bulgaria...
Do not compare Cyrillic to Russian or face hysteria!

Don’t take it personal if folks seem grumpy or whiney,
Their hearts are still huge, though their dogs are all tiny.

A deep, proud history they gladly declare,
While we Western Europeans seem to shout everywhere.

I love the slow living, its pace and its grace,
Yet curse when my beer is last place in the race.

The first place I’ve been where no card tips apply,
Only cash levs will put a spark in their eye.

Five more weeks left to wander and play,
To learn how the locals make a slow life feel okay.
Kairos Aug 3
Drifting through new days
Still I look into your eyes
Each time I close mine
Kairos Aug 3
Just when I needed it: companions, warm and kind.
A baby-blue ******* mother, sharp and refined.
Now I know, she’s saved her whole life to give,
Each round, each smile, proof of the way she lives.

Tremendous smile beneath a cap, humor bone dry.
I let you overestimate me and I’ll never know why.
Married to contrast, cold calling embassies, a landlord that has tenants as enemies.

Majestic bearded bard with Rakija grace.
In every tale, facts and fables found their place.
Knowledge poured like wine - free hat, jokes, and care,
Even speaking Bulgarian, like you were born there.

So cheers to you; Jane, Tim, and Mike!

I’m sure none of us will have a pear-shaped life!
Cheers to the three kind British strangers that paid for my entire evening.
Kairos Aug 3
At life's next threshold
I can live my questions now
Not drowned in answers
A slight nod to Rilke's "letters to a young poet"
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