Sometimes people don’t realise the enormity
of what they have done until much later.

Somebody hurts the other
And the other hurts another
And this other hurts some other
Who hurts yet another
And the cycle of hurt continues
Until one person decides to take the hurt
And keep it
And not pass it on to any other –
And ends the cycle of hurt.

The enormity of the act
Of starting the cycle of hurt
Is surpassed by the enormity of the act
Of ending the cycle of hurt
Even if neither of them is aware
Of what they did when they did it
But forever and ever
The forgiver is always greater than the avenger
And the lover is always greater than the hater.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river