The world is so wide
It is a mirror that cracked
From side to side
Globalising cracks intact
The Darkness has matured
It has become more conscious
than ever, clear, self-assured –
Discarded, its masks pious.
A good thought
who still has one to spare?
Any Hope? I know not
when or from where.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Some things are just not meant to be How ever hard you try to bring them about With a whimper, with a whisper, with a shout There is a planet Running away from a ray of light Coming from another planet Running in the other direction of night. They will never see each other Even though they sense that somewhere Another lonely planet is also out there. No whimper, no whisper, no shout - Silence is the satire of doubt. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Deleted messages Deliver the message poignantly Like an ugly scar that tenderly hurts Memorising the wound visibly And then they accumulate Like a conversational give and take And talk to each other eloquently Saying more than the words they take back Opening up the distance irreversibly. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Your voice is in my heart
Although we’re farther apart
Than a mind can see, can scan,
Hearts with ease infinity will span
Between Earthlives and Beyond
Across universes spirits bond
Like lily leaves on a little pond.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
I carry tiredness around with me Like a pouch, like a backpack, From which I draw humility And simplicity As compensation for the strength I lack. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
We must always examine the routines to which we dedicate our lives. So that in our last moments on earth our hearts are not filled with regret.
The poem therein
Is the pain within
A delayed begin
After-death medicine
Your gender cannot set you free
Your race cannot set you free
Your nation cannot set you free
Your family cannot set you free
Your religion cannot set you free
Your qualifications cannot set you free
Your position cannot set you free
Your achievements cannot set you free
From the prison of a wrong identity.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
We tried to stick together
Because we’re family
But if we’re trying to stick together
Then we’re not family
Family does not stick together
Family connects friends
And lends them wings.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Let‘s ride the River, my friend,
like a galloping horse
The intuitive river has no end,
let’s ride it to its source
We will go mad along the way
And in our madness
We will find once again the way
Out of our sadness
And those that have
Will long to have the freedom
Of those that don’t
And those that don’t
Will long to have the wisdom
Of those that have
Have knowledge.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
I like them both The two sides of Black The one that is woke And the one that looks back I like both of them The two sides of Black The one full of flame And the one that’s laid back I like the Black that plays I like the Black that fights I like the Black that prays I like the Black that delights I like the Black that segregates I like the Black that integrates I like the Black that separates I like the Black that tolerates It’s all Black and it’s all good It takes a village and a neighbourhood. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Don‘t hurry through life
Like a sunset eager to vanish –
Try to catch the moments as they occur
Let each footstep leave an imprint
On your soul. Let each word,
No matter how harsh, fatten your
Inner dictionary. And let each slap
Carve a tribal mark on your cheeks,
That the light of contemplation may run
Like trains of deep thought through
The furrowed tracks above your eyes.
When you smile
From the depths of trial
It will go the extra mile
And linger, linger a while longer
And the older you get, the younger
You will become and stronger
In your ability to love.
Love quickly and love slowly
The high and the lowly.
Love them all. Wholly.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 