There are some you don’t take, Even when they make themselves available, For heaven’s and your dignity‘s sake - Pleasure today will tomorrow be regrettable. The line you draw will be your lifeline, A line as high and thick as it is invisible and fine. The gap you maintain will maintain your pride; If you cross it, shame will become the great divide. Some things it’s better not to do, Not because of what you’ll gain or not gain, But because of what it will take from you; It can’t be repaired by even the deepest pain. Honour makes a nation And integrity makes a state - The day you learn to resist temptation Is the day you become great. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
2025
HORCHE
In jenen Momenten wo ich in der Stille in mir sitze und horche und mein freier Wille neue Empfindungen birgt denke ich manchmal an Dich und denke vor allem dies: Denkst Du auch an mich? Che Chidi Chukwumerije Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung
FIGHT TO LIVE
Fight to live Force yourself to forgive Weigh what you give Let it come from the heart But let it not be too heavy Not everyone can bear the weight Of your true inner state There’s a lot on your plate But others have their own plate too Be light sometimes Be easy sometimes Let people smile sometimes When they think of you As they too fight to live. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
KLEINER
Und die Welt wurde kleiner und immer kleiner Bald gab es nur noch da Deiner und hier meiner Dein Bereich, mein Bereich, und ihrer und seiner Der Einzelne wurde alleiner und immer alleiner Je enger verbunden wir wurden desto gemeiner Je äußerlich feiner desto innerlich unreiner Und wer sucht die Schuld dafür bei sich? Keiner. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung
YOU
No one else but you - Is this magic? Is this juju? There is value in virtue More powerful than voodoo. No one else but you I just had to woo you And once I sort of knew you I just had to do you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TIEFER ALS BLUT
Viele werden kommen und wieder gehen, viele Ausländer aus Ländern und Begriffen, denn fremdsein liegt nicht nur im Aussehen - das besonders Fremde sitzt nicht in Schiffen. Es sind Gedankenformen und Empfindungen, die uns anfassen, auffassen und erfassen, die uns einspannen in neue Verbindungen - die wir nicht fassen - eher sie uns wieder verlassen. Ihr denkt, daß Blut das tiefste ist… Ihr irrt gewaltig; tiefer verankert als Blut liegt der Boden, wo das Tatsächliche sitzt: Fremdes, Eigenes, Geist, Hab und Gut. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung
YOU CANNOT
You cannot be a man - or a woman - And go through the world Without the world going through you You cannot deal with people Without people dealing with you You cannot tackle your task Without your task tackling you You cannot handle issues Without issues handling you You cannot finish your mission Without your mission finishing you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BLUME IST MENSCH
Blume ist Mensch, wenn Mensch wachsen will, gewässert von Empfindungsströmen tief, innig und still - Vogel ist Mensch, wenn Mensch fliegen will auf Flügeln guter Gedanken, ob laut oder subtil - Freude ist Mensch, wenn Mensch Freude teilen will als selbstlosen Lebenstrunk, als Nahrung und als Ventil. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung
THE SEARCH FOE HAPPINESS
There is a pursuit on which we all are, a selfish or simply a personal pursuit; the pursuit of happiness. Everybody who connects with you does so in the course of their own pursuit of happiness. Once they become convinced that they cannot find happiness with you or through you, they will leave you. Don’t take it personal. Because you are also on a similar journey in your own life and in your own path.
Everything you do, everything you hope for, everybody you relate with, it is – finally – with the desire and with the expectation that you will find happiness there. Happiness is our paradise, it is our goal, it is what we all seek. The balance is to be able to find happiness without negatively impacting your physical or ethereal environment, and without unfairly and unjustly diminishing another person’s happiness as the price of yours.
But, somehow, you will still sometimes make others unhappy just to make yourself happy. It is unavoidable. And Vice versa. Because we are imperfect maturing developing beings. When they leave you, leave them too and move on, in the pursuit of your own happiness. If you seek, one day you shall find. In this life or in another, if you continue to seek happiness with a good heart and a pure mind, one day you shall happiness truly and deeply find.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
IS TIME A CIRCLE?
Is time a circle, not a line? Does it have a center? A Center to which we return When we lose our Center? A moment in our childhood, A time from another life, Something that never changes, A piece of eternal life. A recurring dejavu - I have been here before And so have you Like Waves on the sea shore. The seasons recur for a reason The past repeats itself intermittently We come from the Future And it is waiting for us to return impatiently. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 