Author: Che

TRUTH AS INTIMACY

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

The greatest Act of love and respect I can show a human being is to tell the person the truth. There is nothing worse I can do to you, or you can do to me, than to tell each other a lie or withhold the truth from one another when one asks for it. I don’t know about you, but I need truth like a drug and a medicine between me and the people close to me. It is everything. No matter what that truth is, I don’t really care. Even if it is a truth that will hurt me, disgust me, break me, shock me, kill me, withholding it from me or lying to me about it will put me in a worse hell and deeper anguish when I find out or if I sense it. If you’re close to me, don’t lie to me. My respect for you is more greatly diminished by dishonesty than by whatever it is you did that you’re trying to hide from me. Truth bonds me strongly to love.

Truthfulness is the deepest form of intimacy that I understand. If you are close to me and I am close to you, then just know this and be prepared for it: I will not lie to you. I will tell you the truth. If you don’t want to hear the truth, then don’t ask me. I can’t lie to the people I love. If I lie to you, if I withhold the truth from you (unless I’m doing it temporarily until we’re in a place and moment I can tell you), then it means that you are not close to me. And, conversely, if you lie to me, if you withhold the truth from me, then to me it means that you don’t or no longer love me or I’m not close to your heart. Some people think it’s the opposite: they withhold painful truths from the person they love, so as not to hurt the person. But if you do that to me, then it’s either you don’t really love me or you actually want to hurt me down the line.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

TAUSEND

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Es gibt tausend Worte
die nichts sagen
Es gibt tausend Orte
die mir nichts sagen
außer:
Du bist nicht da
Du bist nicht da
Du bist nicht da.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

SMILE

~ Che ~ 2 Comments 
Did you know that
Smiling makes you happy
When you’re feeling crappy?
Did you know that?

I bet you’re smiling now.
And if you were feeling crappy,
Now you’re feeling a little happy -
I bet you’re smiling now.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

DER MITMENSCHEN SINFONIEN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Wenn ein Saxofon schweigt
dann ist es egal wie viele Melodien
in der Luft warten. Das Herz neigt
umsonst der Mitmenschen Sinfonien
wenn alle sich zumachen
anstatt zu verbinden in Seelenharmonien
und aus von Herzen zusammen zu lachen.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

THE DAY THE LAUGHTER CAME AGAIN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
The day the laughter came again
I stood in shock and stared at it in awe
Like a stranger from a distant terrain
For I had forgotten to a tragic flaw
How laughter sounds and makes you feel.
It felt so good it made me want to cry;
The power of laughter and joy is real -
A heart that laughs purely will never die.

The day the laughter came again
I was at the lowest ebb of my life,
My soul wracked every day by pain,
Torn by questions and unresolved strife,
I woke up that morning and prayed to God,
then set out to bravely meet the day
And as I, work-focused, did onward plod,
Laughter came to me again along my way.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ALLES ODER NICHTS

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Geld ist nicht alles
sieht aber so aus
als wäre es alles

Schmerz ist nicht alles
fühlt sich aber so an
als wäre er alles

Macht ist nicht alles
wirkt aber so
als wäre sie alles

Gott ist alles
aber Menschen tun so
als wäre Er nichts.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

WHAT WORDS CAN DO

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
I’ve learnt the hard way
What words can do
When I write or say
Them to you.

When I think you will read between the lines
You read the lines,
And when I think you will read the lines
You read between the lines.

Sometimes I think you will understand
That I don’t really mean what I’m saying,
But the words enter you and start to expand
And exact a price I will long be paying.

Because words carry life
And words carry meaning,
A word that cuts and kills like a knife
May not be corrected by a word of healing.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

AN DEN ABEND

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Der Abend kann auch menschlich sein
vor allem wenn Du einsam bist und allein;
Er kann ein guter Zuhörer sein und leise
und in seinem Schweigen tief und weise

Er ist einfühlsam. Er ist nachdenklich.
Er ist sorgsam, einfallsreich, fürsorglich.
Und wenn Dein Selbstgespräch fertig ist
entlässt er Dich in die Nacht, wo Du Du bist.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

UNTIL IT HAPPENS

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
You think it matters
Until it happens
And then you realise
It doesn’t really matter

You think it kills
Until it happens
And then you realise
It only hurts for a while
And then it disappears.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

EINFACH WARTEN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Ich habe gelernt
zu warten
Ich habe gelernt
Das Herz ist ein Garten

Alles hat die Zeit betreut
Alles, was einen Mensch bewegt
hat die Zeit empfangen und gepflegt
auch das, was er später bereut

Manches hat sie wachsen gelassen,
dies habe ich gelernt -
beim Hoffen, Fürchten, Lieben, Hassen -
aber manches hat sie entfernt.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung