True love is given automatically
Irresistibly and totally
Without being demanded extraordinarily
Or exclusively.

Loyalty is given freely
Happily, personally and genuinely
Without being prompted forcefully
Or granted guiltily.

Only honesty is voluntary
It’s a choice, it’s not arbitrary
You decide deliberately in the sanctuary
Of your heart to be honest or to the contrary.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river