Of Alienation

CORNERSTONE

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

The stone that stood
Alone, refused
And baked in sunshine hard
Stepped upon
Spat upon
Outcast, reject, discard
The stone that the builder refused
The stone that the hammer abused
Philosopher’s stone, dreamer’s muse
Song without a bard
Song without a bard.

Dark is the night
No light in sight
What can I say as comfort?
Rugged stranger
Lonewolf, Ranger
Even words of comfort hurt
The house is slow, is slow to rise
Each wall is pride, is compromise
Nobody wants to apologise
As they yearn for your support
As they yearn for your support.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
—-

SOFTLY’S SONG

~ Che ~ 7 Comments

Seven times we spoke out our love
And it was done
Readily we tread where doves still rove
Steadily we dance on into the grove
Within the sun, upon
The vow of a million and one words unspoken
Veiling the secret that dreams on unwoken
Tomorrow our love-vow shall reappear, unbroken,
And we shall be one.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE CAGE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Stony faces
Weak arms
Biggest Guns
Emptiness.

God has turned His Face Away!
Man at Mercy of the dark
Which virgins have oiled
Their lamps?

Empty streets – stoned
Cold overnight
Sleep of death
Who is beating my heart?

Technology will cure nothing!
E-speed all the faster to communicate
Emptiness and loneliness
From me to you, you to me.

– che chidi chukwumerije.

IN THE MORNING

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

The things we know in the morning
The moment we awaken
And from somewhere else are returning
But not yet quite retaken
By the world of thoughts that ever crowd around us
During the hours while we are fully day-conscious
Those things we know as sleep departs
Are as true as true can be
The Hour of Awakening to us imparts
The starkest clarity

It may be painful, may be pleasant
It may be quite surprising
But it is always true and doesn’t
Require verifying
Because if you did awake aright into this certainty
Events themselves will prove to you their authenticity
My thoughts are clear as sleep departs
And I see without guile
Displayed before me all those hearts
With whom I frown or smile.

————–
che chidi chukwumerije
————–

THE DAILY TRAINRIDE

~ Che ~ 5 Comments

In the skyline grey
Memory hung
The future gone astray
Emptiness stung
Hung with reality in the greying city
The dying trees, the loveless pity
Duplicity and winding and twisting, reflecting
The beast in the best of the robots erecting
Their concrete phalli, their bull’s I’s, to scratch the sky
The insatiable itch, impotent ambition, try and try
And try as you might, your might is the limp cloud
The wilted grass, the lonely office, the empty crowd
The quiet madness, the gory glory
The daily trainride into another same story
The casual business of getting by
Between yesterday and tomorrow
A moment of reflection, gone, a sigh
Of something neither joy nor sorrow.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

WAVING GOODBYE

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

When I started to interact with you
Little did I understand
That true friendship is an addiction
Too hurtful for lonely people

Metamorphosis from yesterday’s amnesia
To today’s cage of painful memories
Was like dawn that swiftly recedes
Unobserved.

The numbing melody of a thousand shards
Crashing to the splintered ground
Is a sad song
Yet I must dance alone.

Life has petalled pain
With the scent of a red rose
A caged rainbow beats in my chest
Like Harmattan waving goodbye to the rains.

-Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

STAY ON YOUR PATH

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

The words will still be the one

The one to articulate Silence
When we sing the praises of Silence
We do so with words

The strange bird will still be the one

The one to carry your story forward
Even though you ostracized him
He will preserve your story
When strangers rule the world.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

FOREST ROAD

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

There is comfort in pain
Like these tears that spill my eyes
Mine heart shallt drink
When I am alone

They all left me, one bye one
But I shall not break
Like the palm tree, bent under
My laugh will be straight again

A lane travels through the woods alone
Asking for no company
Neither loving nor hating those that
Walk on him and leave him behind.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije