You overcome the pain By becoming one with it. You lighten the rain By learning to dance in it. You conquer rejection By accepting it. You unburden affection By confessing it. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
English
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM
God is teaching me to not be emotionally dependent on any human being on Earth; to have nobody of whom I think or feel that I cannot live without this person. It’s a painful process, but to everybody who has rejected or is rejecting me, I say Thank you. Whatever your intention was, God has made something greater out of it.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
NEVER STOP
Don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid
To follow your heart and go for your love;
Rejection can shatter the plans best laid –
The important thing is that your heart did move
And you moved outwardly along with this inner motion,
For movement is the spirit’s most important need –
It will climb every mountain and cross every ocean
Until it has itself from all its shackles freed.
The soul will always love something or someone,
And this love will make it laugh and make it bleed
And make it outgrow itself and never be done,
Following the path Home wherever it may lead.
Some chapters end in joy, and some end in sorrow,
But neither of these can hold the spirit down forever –
An inner restlessness will grip it again tomorrow;
Until it gets back Home, it will never stop. Never.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
TREACHEROUS
There’s no understanding it There’s no explaining it Humans are treacherous Just start accepting it. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS STRANGE
Love is a strange thing It makes you accept stranger things And forgive the strangest of things. You know you love someone When you’re ready to forgive them Anything and everything As long as they love you back. Love is the crime - Those who refuse to commit Receive no pardon And never get to do the time Of their lives. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HARMATTAN LEAVES
Dusty green leaves Harmattan leaves you husky With the haze of dawn and dusk West Africa will Chest Saharan breath Lovingly for three months Until it springs into the Atlantic Like a restless traveller into his lover. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE INNER STREET
The people on the street The street on the people Weighing them down… The people in the street The street in the people Lifting them up… What we push down Will one day rise back up. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BEFORE I SLEEP
The tropical warmth With teeth as strong as roots Beating on lion skin drums Evening voiced on bamboo flutes Fleeting memory That happened too long ago To be remembered properly Before I sleep more miles to go. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LONELY JOURNEY
The lonely journey Following your intuition Following your conviction Following your sensing Constantly needing someone But having no one To talk to. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LIFE WITHIN
Allow love to conquer you Allow love to be your leader Allow love to reorder you Allow love to be your healer Let love break you Let love shake and wake you Let love take you Let love unmake and remake you When love enters, you’re in When love goes, you sin When love wins, you win Love is the life within. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
