Only the blind can speak the truth Caring not where it lands Seeing not where it opens wounds Even in one’s Beloved’s own hands Only the blind can follow the truth Minding not where it leads Seeing not that an abyss sometimes looms For people, like themself, of honest deeds Only the blind can bear the truth Unbothered by its origin Seeing not the size of the mountain it moves Or the people and things it’s crushing Only the blind can see the truth No matter how bright and blinding its light For the truth-loving heart is forever full Of bold and unfailing insight. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Intuitions
VISITOR FROM HEAVEN
You were there I saw you even if many others did not You were there I saw you even if even my eyes did not You were there I saw you. I saw you in the swelling of my heart In the paths that my thoughts did chart I saw you, for they were thoughts of thee. Thoughts of all those things which Thou art The origin, the beginning, the head, the start I saw you in my sensing of eternity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A DEEPER SURVIVAL
The more the world is flooded with A.I., the more I hunger for natural things - Natural images honest to the human eye, a genuine human voice that sings - Content that springs from the human “I”, what the original human spirit brings - The truth’s rough edges, not a smooth lie, the exertion that with evolution swings - The more the world is overwritten by A.I., the more I gravitate towards natural things. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
POINTS OF VIEW
You just assume it’s true Because it’s native to you You just assume it‘s true That my blue is your blue But my blue is really very red rises like blood rose to my head While your blue is green instead the leafy verdure of a flower bed Neither your blue nor mine Is truly blue or azure or divine The blues we see are but in line With our maturity, depth or shine Yet you simply assume it’s true Because yours is native to you You assume that I’m seeing blue Just because it looks blue to you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
HOPE TO BE FOUND
Line your pockets with seeds of hope Find purpose when you secretly grope through your hidden emotions, touch one, touch all, no emotion is too much, no matter how intense. The deeper the grip, the closer it is to the reaper - And you are the reaper of what you sow. Empty your pockets of what you know As you walk the road leave a flower trail The Grail finds you if you seek the Grail. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
SUPERIORITY COMPLEX
Superiority complex Is inferiority complex Think about it Someone constantly trying to outdo you Means they feel constantly outdone by you Attempted demonstration of superiority Over you Is an indication of feelings of inferiority Towards you. When it happens on an individual level It is a curse But when it happens on a group level It is even worse It is a revelation of the collation of emptiness and of pettiness in the norm of human form. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
WHY?
I cannot handle lies like hot mounds of yam on a plate smoking squinted eyes thoughtfully tonguing open the gate of questioning Whys where Truth comes never or too late to hear my heart’s cries. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
EASTER
Tear the woods open wide It is a painting windowed in our dream Spear not the canvas to the side The blood waters a never-ending stream That will move mountains on Sunday And roll a rock downhill Into the valley of time we chime Monday Death is dead. Peace, be still The innocent should never be crucified While the guilty die on their pen Never was indignity this undignified Justice thus unjustified by unmanly men The innocent will rise again Broken the frame of your crown of lies Sunrays that fall like drops of rain A Spirit is born when a man dies. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
USING SELF-CONFIDENCE
The most powerful thing you can give people is confidence. Self-confidence. But some people, once they have it they turn around and use it against you, who awakened it in them.
Next time, you feel like leaving people wallowing in their pitiful inferiority complex.
But a part of you still goes ahead and keeps on strengthening people who need it everywhere you meet them. What they later do with this strength and self-confidence is their business.
You have done yours.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
HAPPINESS IS PARADISE
The end result of life should be happiness. If you live a long and “fulfilled” life, and yet at the end you are full of sadness and uncertainty – what was the point?
I don’t know what or where Paradise is – but if it’s not a synonym for Happiness, what’s the point in making it the destination of your travels?
As simple as it may sound, the aim of life is to be happy – nothing more. The difficult exercise along the way is finding your happiness without unfairly or willfully impeding the happiness of another.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 