He was going to the right place, but for the wrong reason. So he stopped himself and started going to the wrong place, but for the right reason. Then his helpers stopped him and pointed him back to the right place. Now he’s gone to the right place again, but this time for the right reason. And rightness was fulfilled.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
How something so good Can just suddenly spoil You would be so surprised What’s hidden in the soil. How success and fulfilment Can defy time and toil You would be so mortified What’s hidden in the soil. How the hand that loved Can suddenly recoil You would be so horrified What’s hidden in the soil. The human heart is a garden, A kitchen, a fertile soil And strange things happen When things come to the boil. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Some promises are made without words. But they are there. They are transmitted from heart to heart, and the heart understands what has been given, received, taken, reciprocated and shared.
Such promises are easy to break and deny, but hard to bear or forget or ever make good again. Because what was not spoken with words or broken with words cannot be repaired with words.
The deepest promises are silent and are the litmus test of the truthfulness of our character and the trustworthiness of our personalities and the purity of our hearts.
And then when the words then follow, they seal in stone what has already permeated the air and the heart.
Be mindful of the promises you make, whether spoken or unspoken, be honest to yourself and fulfil – or break honestly – what you have promised within yourself.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
There are things that other people can do a hundred times and get away with it. But if you do it just once, you will get caught or it will stay with you for the rest of your life. If another person doesn’t catch you, your conscience catches you and makes you pay for it from that moment until the day you die. To stop it you’ll have to kill your conscience, in which case you die a deeper death. So, in order to live, you have to live with it. You have no choice but to bear it and mature through it. Just for something you did just once.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Travel light For the road has all you need But pack right - The important things - and Godspeed. Have a good flight. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
People are illusions
in our mind
Emotional intrusions
Never mind
Out of sight
is not out of mind
Day and night
You’re on my mind.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Realising you’ve been deceived Is very hard to believe Because it looked so real How it made you feel But that is the first rule of deception It must never look like deception When you look at a wolf clothed as a sheep You don’t see a wolf clothed as a sheep You see a sheep. Everything around you Could be a cover created to confound you. Our wishes, insecurities, vanities, memories, Propensities - they all block our senses. Assumption is the filter of consciousness. Worse, presumption. Everything is a dress, And who or what is wearing each dress You will learn by experience as you progress. But as you become more knowledgeable You ironically also become more gullible. You are stunned, as you learn and grow, To realise there’s still so much you don’t know. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Accept your loss Only God is the boss Many rivers to cross To get to the real Us What a quiet evening you are Your inner voice carries far Riding quietly in the back of the car My listening heart is ajar. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Only happiness can defeat sadness Only honesty to oneself can defeat madness Only goodness can defeat badness Mirroring darkness is not our business Rather for the Light we bear witness And learn gradually to feel forgiveness At a point words become meaningless Whether we speak more or speak less We’ll misunderstand each other nevertheless Only time and deeds and steadfastness Only consistency in human friendliness Only self-control and gentlemanliness Will grant our hearts again to each other access. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
