The Train will depart It will move If you’re on it, you’ll leave the station behind If you’re on the platform, it will leave you behind But when the time comes the train will depart And two people who’ve Until that moment been together will part. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
English
THE WAY THE HEART LOVES
A quiet day You were in my heart And in my every thought All day today Just like yesterday And the day before too I’m still thinking of you Quietly every day This is the way The heart loves genuinely Noiselessly, unceasingly Day by day. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE LIKE THE SUN
Like the sun rises every morning So love blossoms again in the heart After the night of agony and mourning The heart will ache to make a new start It might be an unfinished story Rising from the depth to try again Or a new love emerging in all its glory Making the heart forget all its past pain The edges blur, the points blunt The longing subsides, the tears dry New edges sharpen up a new front New wings unfold straining to fly For the heart wants to love badly Because love is the life of the soul Love gladly or love sadly or love madly Love alone makes the spirit whole. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ERRATIC APRIL
Nature blowing hot and cold Playing hide and seek with the Spring Human hearts timid and bold Minds and bodies young and old Looking for a firm weather to hold, Not a cold snap, or a hot flash, or a fling. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A RESTAURANT
They come in with empty stomachs And leave with full hearts - A restaurant is a homestead in public, A social comforter of sorts. A smile tastes as good as wine, And the sound of laughter Will be your lifeline And quench your hunger long after. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A NEW BEGINNING
A beautiful day, My heart opens in joy and gratitude And begins to pray: Thank You, Lord, for healing, for fortitude, For blessing my way With true friends and a heart of quietude, For sending Your Ray Of warmth into the depth of my solitude. Although I lost my woman I gained new friends and a reopened heart. With pain grows acumen; Life is a journey, Your Word is the Chart. It’s hard to be a true man But every new day is a good day to start. Daily You make me human, moulding through experiences my innermost part. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GETTING THERE
Have you known pain More than you ever thought you could bear? You will recover again - When death approaches, immortal life is near. Accepting the inconceivable, Acknowledging the irretrievable, Internalising the unchangeable, Will slowly get you there. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BECOMING CIRCUMSPECT
A year passed by so quickly, like a whirlwind. The most important lesson I have learned: Value people who tell you the truth, for they are rare. Be sparing with your trust. And know that, unfortunately or fortunately, there is always something more to every story you hear. The exceptions to this rule are rare. So, become circumspect, even as you love harder. Because the harder you love, the deeper you go into the heart of truth and deception. The human heart is on earth to grow, and it grows only by intense and authentic experiencing of itself and of other hearts. So, open your heart to everything, but know this: “Everything” includes both the light and the dark, both the dependable and the treacherous, coming both from strangers as well as, even more so, from the people you trust.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
RECALIBRATED
When you‘ve lost What you love the most You have nothing more to lose. When what gives you strength Leaves you Then you have only yourself left to choose. And your God. And seriousness. No more half-bonds. Whatever stays must really be your crew’s. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PARALLEL UNIVERSES
When a person just doesn’t know how to tell you the truth, they simply stick to the lie. From start to finish. Even if they want to tell you the truth, they don’t know how to, they don’t know where to start because the truth runs on a completely different storyline and separate lifestyle, opposite reality and parallel universe. It will hurt you deeply and completely overturn your view of life and of them. Or so the person thinks. But if only they would try you, to see a new person emerge and a new powerful authentic relationship form.
Starting with a lie is always a slippery slope, a rollercoaster ride. It is nervousness and heart palpitations from start to finish. It can be exciting and exhilarating, until it becomes human and personal. Then it becomes a chore, a nightmare, a heavy load, and a puzzling sphinx, a difficult riddle to solve. Tell the truth and shatter the other person’s reality? Or maintain the lie and allow it to eat you inside and gnaw at the other person’s gut instincts, and prevent both of you from ever forming a true bond? And yet, only the truth liberates.
There will be a humanity one day of honest human spirits who live, share and relate in the light of truth always and in all things. Deeply and simply. Inside and out. Individually and as a society. The most fundamental truth we owe ourselves as human beings is the truth of how we really are as a person. This is the basis of all relationships and of society and of a possibility to one day have a reflection of Paradise on Earth. A home away from Home.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 