just a few brief notes on this european thing:
as they say,
Europe is very civilized
In the west it is possible to feel like this deer in Munich

 

direction: east --> turkey (away)

"Paradise and Hell are neighbors, their doors face each other."
-- Emine Sevgi Odzamar

ruhe: the german word for peace and quiet
ruh: the turkish word for soul

on Sundays the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar are closed / in the back alleys
you can find Viagra, Cialis, "Delay Spray", SIM cards, shoes, the things that
exist only as spam in the West, modern commerce made real in the ancient stoney alleys, handguns
for sale in the cavernous tunnels beneath road intersections / Istanbul is this. And also
ice cream cones, brand Lolita, filled with gelato
stray street cats, never dogs, eating a turkey
Turkish baths, the nude women lying on the marble looking up towards the ancient skylighted dome,
electric light bulbs (the energy-saver kind) in the hammam's chandelier
John the Baptist's skull in Topkapi palace, jewel-laden; and his arm,
gold-enclosed with a slice of skeleton showing through, this fragile body enduring adorned all these centuries


i had my fortune told
by a rabbit in Istanbul it said exactly this
"You are always dreaming but
there is and absticle in your
way once your overcame barier
obstacle you witl be happy and wealthy"

Bulgaria: the relief of a gray sky; fields of sunflowers with heads downcast

in Transylvania i came across some philosophy students
drinking cognac with their professor at 11 am / impassioned about Hegel etc
we went to the faculty of music and the professor played Bach swaying over
the old piano draped in faded pink velvet / the young men were off to study in Paris
because Romania is a "second-rate country" / Playing chess at the Cafe Bulgakov they were
full of dear ideas like
"It's authentic to miss one's train"
"It's urgent to wait"

direction: west --> deutschland, suisse, the heart of it

Can we carry these ideas back towards the west?
Munich once more / sweeps quickly along

of course this is not the whole story / there are mountains,
into Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Lake Geneva...
is the West caught in the simulation / the chill of alienation passing
over the darkened land, Intercity rail and power lines sweeping quietly
through the Western European night ... Switzerland perfectly manicured
and everything works, the miracle of a functioning nation-state / is it authentic?
is it real? or must one go to the "second" world or tercer mundo to encounter "reality?" / i would venture that
"reality" lies in the interactions between people and can be created anywhere,
moreover, "nature" is real and beautiful everywhere it can be found / in europa, America, or anywhere