I never knew there was so much love
In the world until I was down;
I never knew there was so much hate
In the world until I wore a crown.
You just have to accept humanity the way it is;
People will surprise you with their love and their hate;
People will surprise you with betrayal and with loyalty;
A thousand changes everyday will be your fate.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
The aim of life
Is to be inwardly alive –
Inwardly mobile
Like a child.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
As I travel the world outwardly, I also travel through myriads of inner worlds inwardly.
Within short periods, I interact with people of different mentalities, characters, backgrounds, histories, personalities and inner worlds; people whose inner lives are often completely different from mine but sometimes also extraordinarily similar to mine.
And I’ve learned one thing. It is not the outer world that is big and vast; it is the inner world that is vaster and more diverse than the universe. But it is also that same inner world that is the smallest, most singular and most undifferentiated space in all of creation.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Sometimes you win back your freedom
And it feels so strange
Because nothing, not even freedom,
Is free from change.
A free child, wild and uncouth,
Is not afraid to tell the truth –
A growing, blossoming and free youth
Is not afraid to hear the truth –
A free adult, grown full of ruth,
Is not afraid to protect the truth.
They are all free
All three
But they all see
Differently.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
The distance from coast to coast Hurts the heart the most And the silence from ghost to ghost The heart is a strange host. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
One person’s content
Is another person’s form,
One person’s excellent
Is another person’s norm,
One person’s present
Is another person’s past,
The message you first sent
Got to the Person you love last.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner River
Before you hear the train You feel the wind; Before you feel the pain Your inner voice starts to softly sing. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
We cannot use God to hide away from the world. Rather we should use God to engage with, decipher and overcome the world. Above all, the world within us. God is not for cowards or weaklings. God is for the brave, the bold, the adventurous, the determined, the open, those who are ready to use the earthlife for that for which it was granted to them: to experience, and to grow through this experiencing.
The form or the content of the experiencing is different for each person. For some it is a quiet thing they need to experience, for others it is a loud thing; for some it is a popular thing they must dare, for others it is an unpopular or even a seemingly inconsequential thing; for some it is a controversial thing, for others it is a safe and boring and therefore annoying and unbearable thing; for some it is personal love, for others it is objective love.
Everybody has those things that will call their heart deeply – and running to God will still not free you from them. There is no escape because it is inside you. God is not there to hide you from yourself or from your challenges. God is there to help you to deal with them. That is why HE granted you this earth life, because HE knows you will need every second of whatever length of time you earned for yourself in this current incarnation.
So, get to work! Go for it. Set off with the business of living by experiencing. God will help you if you are brave and honest.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Kindness starts by Looking people in the eye And welcoming them whole Into your soul. Those who belong Will come into your gaze, Those whose hearts are wrong Will look sideways. I’m not just talking about The outer look - For the story inside will come out Of the soul’s book When honesty, sincerity and kindness Break through dishonest blindness. A kind gaze can be revealing too When the other person’s heart is not true. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Not everyone who tries to kill you will succeed; Your heart might bleed and bleed and bleed and bleed But in the end you will find out you have simply been freed. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 