Learn to bear your pain in aloneness, But don’t bear your aloneness in pain. Aloneness should bring relief from stress, Should help you inner peace to attain. Being alone with your sorrow is sad; Share your aloneness instead with your gladness. Seclusion allows the Healing Power of GOD to save you from overstimulation and madness. And you will be born anew in silence, For aloneness is the mother of transformation. And joy shall be your portion and your licence To laugh again, in you a flame of Devotion. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
English
STRANGE WAYFELLOWS
People are already on a path when you meet them, On their own path, with their own mission. You think they’re walking with you, but then Suddenly they jump off at some junction. As strange and disorienting as it seems to you, The truth is that it was not a new decision That they took. They were never really with you, They were always going in their own direction. You were just entertainment along the way Or brief company, and victim of an illusion. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the Inner river
IT’S A HUMAN HEART
It’s winter You’ll have warmer days And you’ll have colder days But they’ll all be cold. It’s a human heart You’ll have clearer days And you’ll have uncertain moments But still, be bold. It’s an Earth life You came to cry And you came to laugh And maybe grow old. The people you love the most Will cause you the most pain And yet they’re the only ones Your heart will want to hold. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SOMEONE THAT LOVES YOU
To have someone that loves you, Really loves you, is the most beautiful thing, The most special thing, that can happen to you - Nothing can describe it, not even a ring. It is a special gift from God reaching you Through the agency of another human’s devotion - Devotion to you, surrender to you, Service to you, support of you, Love for you, care towards you, Honesty with you, dedication to you, Joyful natural voluntary sacrifice to and for you, Giving you dignity and protection And bringing you elevation and elation. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE VAST DISTANCE
The deepest form of intimacy is the sharing of truth. Sex is not the highest form of intimacy - Honesty is. No sleuth can penetrate a false heart of lies. No compass can navigate the vast distance opened up by lies that keeps hearts separate. This distance cannot be closed by vicinity - This distance can only be closed by veracity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THROUGH HONESTY
Don’t be ashamed Pour it all out The heart is tamed and freed from doubt by the bravery of honesty. Let those that hurt you continue to mock you It still cannot stop you from healing through honesty and growing through adversity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PARTS OF STORIES
The person you think is in your story is also in someone else’s story. Never think a person is exclusively yours, even if they tell you so. It only depends on the form and context, on the depth and scope, and on the intensity and exact nature, of their role in your story and their roles in other people’s stories as well. Just like you are in many people’s stories, so is even the person closest to you maybe even closer still to someone else in that other person’s story. People are interconnected in ways nobody can fathom.
And you can only see your story, but lack complete access into the world of the other person’s story. You only know the character a person plays in your story, but you would be surprised if you ever saw the character that same person plays in another person’s story. Never will you know all the parts of a story, only some – if you are lucky, maybe the relevant ones. Never will you know all the people in a person’s story. And never ever will you know all the stories in which a person features – not even the person closest and dearest to you. Just like only God knows all the stories that you too are a part of.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
MAY YOU
May you grow Like the flowers you love so much May you sow Seeds of fruits that nourish as such May you glow Under the purity of a true lover’s touch May you know Honesty to which you can safely clutch. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WOUNDED TERRAIN
I‘m riding on the train And riding through my pain When I’m done if I’m still sane I won’t come this way again. The experience is a strain On my heart and on my brain Riding through wounded terrain Where my trust was slain. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DISILLUSIONMENT AND DISENCHANTMENT
Sometimes when you’re inner eyes open and you gradually begin to see and recognise a person for who and what they really are, you experience such a shocking, deep and grave Disappointment, that you almost wish you could close your inner eyes again, in order to retain the former beautiful picture of this person that you used to have. But it is all in vain. Your heart can never ever forget again what it has seen and what it now knows and sees. Truth is the most beautiful, but also the ugliest, thing you will ever encounter. But, the good thing is, it will set you free.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 