TRUTH IS THE REFEREE OF TRUST

Truth is the referee of trust. Truth and truthfulness, not perfection. Nobody is perfect and everybody does wrong sometimes or makes mistakes. Trust does not hinge on perfection and it cannot do so. Trust hinges on truth and truthfulness. You trust people, not because they are perfect, but because they are honest to you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

ALLES GLEICH

Die fremde Welt da draußen
Die fremde Welt hier drinnen
In mir ist es genauso fremd
wie außerhalb von meinem Sinnen
und mir.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

LOVE IS THE LIGHT OF THE HEART

Love is a light
It illumines the heart
And makes it bright

And it is light
Like a winged cart
Rising to the height

Love is a chart
It always goes right
Right from the start

Love is the highest art
Love is the deepest light
Of which Happiness is a part.

Love is the light of the heart
Love is the happiness of the heart
Love is the strength of the heart.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

DON’T RUN

I don’t run from the pain. I hold it inside until it hurts no more. That’s how I deal with it. Time is irrelevant, because time stands still. Only experiencing, internalisation, transformation and growth are important. And once those have taken place, the aching melts, the pain stops hurting, drops off and goes away – but not before giving me all its energy and all its wisdom; and awakening in me the capacity to take in bigger worlds tomorrow, and the Newness to love again another day. But above all, it reboots my spirit and re-ignites in me the Childlikeness to one day trust again with a healed heart. But with more circumspection and attention to detail next time.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

HERZDRUCK

Die kalte Erde
drückt den Schnee
fest gegen ihre Brust
so fest, es tut ihr weh

Schmerzmittel
Herzkittel
Kälteres Jahresdrittel
und es tut immer noch Weh.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

TRUST IS

Trust is a thread
Is an earthenware pot
Is a glass cup
Do not break it.

Sow with it a garment of protection
Cook in it a meal of spiritual nutrition
Drink from it the water of eternal affection
And never break it.

It is hard to remake it.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

KREISLAUF

Egal wie weit Du gehst
bist Du stets unterwegs zurück zu Dir
Und wenn Du schneller wegläufst
kommst Du um so früher bei Dir
wieder an.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

WE EXPECT MORE FROM SEX

We expect more from sex than it can give. And when it fails to give it, we take more and more and more of it, demanding with even more intensity and urgency from it that which it is unable to give. Unable to give because, no matter how deep and intimate it is, in the end it’s still just sex. It can never fulfil your soul. And the real you, the human spirit, is in the soul. There is a depth of unhappiness that it cannot fill, a height of joy it cannot reach. There is a fineness and exactness of intimate connection which sex can only crudely attempt to approximate without being able to fill the gaps.

The gaps that sincerity can fill; the gaps that honesty can bridge; the gaps that integrity can close; the gaps that trust can repair; the gaps that homogeneity can make disappear; the gaps that reliability can heal; the gaps that a shared Ideal and a common goal can plug; the gaps that working together can eliminate; the gaps that intimate truthful conversations can undo; the gaps that a harmonisation of thinking and intuiting can cure. All the gaps that the best sex in the world cannot fill. No matter how often and creatively we try to find the fulfilment therein.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

HEAVY WITH THE WEIGHT

The snow is red but not with envy
Heavy with the weight of thought
Waiting for the warmth of friendship
Forgiveness and love and a drop
Of sunlight to melt into the ground
Going it looks ugly but it’s not
Letting go of what you thought you’d found
But, patience, the Earth will eat it all up.
Are you snowing, are you falling
Are you resting, are you thawing
Are you meting, are you calling
For companionship while you’re withdrawing?
Slowly withdrawing…

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ARBEITNEHMER

Wir schaffen bis geht nicht mehr
denn es geht nicht mehr
Wir tragen einen Traum
doch trägt der Traum uns? Woher
wolang wohin? Ich weiß es nicht.
Arbeiter und Angestellte tun ihre Pflicht
und blicken auf ihre Hände - leer.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung