If there were no time There would be no pleasure For there would be no experiencing, No piling up of inner treasure, No maturing, no developing, No struggle against which to measure Growth, delicious, ever unfolding, For eternity gained is the time spent. If there were no time, If Everything happened in one moment, There would be no rhyme. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
English
DON’T BE DISTRACTED BY INSULTS
Be ready to forgive insults Even before they come Knowing they will come From children and adults Who are a part of your way For this too is a part of the way You must travel to get results. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOUR HEART IS A CUP
You will daily be given enough strength To grapple with the challenges of the day. Do you know that if you in focus don’t relent, You can have many days in just one day? How wonderful is God. WHAT is He indeed? For Creation, His Work, is full of unfailing Magic - Your harvest is ALWAYS the product of your seed. Thus, to live without high drive and light-purpose is tragic. There is a river, do you see it, or sense it? We are always walking beside it. Our heart is a cup. To water your flowers, you may draw water from it; But if you stop watering your flowers, your river dries up. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
I CANNOT REMEMBER
I cannot remember all the good I did
I cannot remember all the evil I did
People remind me
As you go through the world today
Be mindful of the things you say
And do to those who cross your way
People will remind you one day.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST
The last shall think they’re the First And the first shall think they’re the Last This is the nature of human vanity You are not the First but the last, many there are that came before you. Life has an incredible age. You are not the Last but the first, many they are that will come after you. Make way and leave the stage. We are each just a part of the whole, Space-wise, time-wise, content-wise; Humility alone will perfect our human unity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
COME CLOSER
I don’t like to get too near to people Because it pushes me far away from them; When you get really close to the moon, You see a gloomy rock, not a glowing gem. Yet, courage!, wanderer, be bold of heart! One who will find must seek everywhere, Must brave the ugly to discover deep beauty At the core of the things we love and fear. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BEFORE YOU
You always think you’re the first When you are young, How startling it is when you grow up To realise you were wrong. So many people before you Have these same heights traversed - Some recorded, many unrecorded, Their stories long dispersed. Tread the earth with humility, O modern day human; Stonehenge and Egypt’s pyramids Transcend our acumen. And when you are still young, Be thankful as you add new value, For you’re building on the foundation Of all that came before you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE END NEVER ENDS
The character of the end One month passes one year passes 10 years pass Still no sight no word no message No communication That’s when it sinks in That was really the end He is gone Gone for good. The disappearance of friends Ends are Not Trends The heart never mends The end never ends. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
CHANGE CHANGES CHANGE
There is something about change Once it starts, it is irreversible The inexorable march is strange Like a Divine verdict incontestable You see it happening yet you cannot stop it When you try to stop it you only develop it Even faster and make yourself expendable. There is something about change It is is surreal. Unreal. It is strange. Change changes the parameters of change And never changes in the same way. Change changes change But never changes it in the same way. And never stops changing. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TIME DOES NOT CHANGE THINGS
Time doesn’t change things, they stay as they are. Events change things. Experiences change things. Things change things. Not time. Time only changes the outer appearance of the form of things.
Sometimes a thing that seems like it will last forever only lasts a short time and then changes, because the thing or event that will change it met it early.
While sometimes an other thing that seems flimsy and ephemeral stays unchanged for eternities, because the thing or experience that will change it has not yet met it.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 