Ways part in part And while parts of ways Stay apart other parts Remain inside the heart Until the harmattan of days Has cleared and the haze Lifts and a new path starts. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Change
HEALED BROKEN
It’s not as easy as you think
Some bones heal in their broken position
Yes, they don’t hurt anymore
But they will never again make the same old motion
And you will never again feel the former emotion.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
LOVE LIKE THE SUN
Like the sun rises every morning So love blossoms again in the heart After the night of agony and mourning The heart will ache to make a new start It might be an unfinished story Rising from the depth to try again Or a new love emerging in all its glory Making the heart forget all its past pain The edges blur, the points blunt The longing subsides, the tears dry New edges sharpen up a new front New wings unfold straining to fly For the heart wants to love badly Because love is the life of the soul Love gladly or love sadly or love madly Love alone makes the spirit whole. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ERRATIC APRIL
Nature blowing hot and cold Playing hide and seek with the Spring Human hearts timid and bold Minds and bodies young and old Looking for a firm weather to hold, Not a cold snap, or a hot flash, or a fling. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A NEW BEGINNING
A beautiful day, My heart opens in joy and gratitude And begins to pray: Thank You, Lord, for healing, for fortitude, For blessing my way With true friends and a heart of quietude, For sending Your Ray Of warmth into the depth of my solitude. Although I lost my woman I gained new friends and a reopened heart. With pain grows acumen; Life is a journey, Your Word is the Chart. It’s hard to be a true man But every new day is a good day to start. Daily You make me human, moulding through experiences my innermost part. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BECOMING CIRCUMSPECT
A year passed by so quickly, like a whirlwind. The most important lesson I have learned: Value people who tell you the truth, for they are rare. Be sparing with your trust. And know that, unfortunately or fortunately, there is always something more to every story you hear. The exceptions to this rule are rare. So, become circumspect, even as you love harder. Because the harder you love, the deeper you go into the heart of truth and deception. The human heart is on earth to grow, and it grows only by intense and authentic experiencing of itself and of other hearts. So, open your heart to everything, but know this: “Everything” includes both the light and the dark, both the dependable and the treacherous, coming both from strangers as well as, even more so, from the people you trust.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
RECALIBRATED
When you‘ve lost What you love the most You have nothing more to lose. When what gives you strength Leaves you Then you have only yourself left to choose. And your God. And seriousness. No more half-bonds. Whatever stays must really be your crew’s. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PARALLEL UNIVERSES
When a person just doesn’t know how to tell you the truth, they simply stick to the lie. From start to finish. Even if they want to tell you the truth, they don’t know how to, they don’t know where to start because the truth runs on a completely different storyline and separate lifestyle, opposite reality and parallel universe. It will hurt you deeply and completely overturn your view of life and of them. Or so the person thinks. But if only they would try you, to see a new person emerge and a new powerful authentic relationship form.
Starting with a lie is always a slippery slope, a rollercoaster ride. It is nervousness and heart palpitations from start to finish. It can be exciting and exhilarating, until it becomes human and personal. Then it becomes a chore, a nightmare, a heavy load, and a puzzling sphinx, a difficult riddle to solve. Tell the truth and shatter the other person’s reality? Or maintain the lie and allow it to eat you inside and gnaw at the other person’s gut instincts, and prevent both of you from ever forming a true bond? And yet, only the truth liberates.
There will be a humanity one day of honest human spirits who live, share and relate in the light of truth always and in all things. Deeply and simply. Inside and out. Individually and as a society. The most fundamental truth we owe ourselves as human beings is the truth of how we really are as a person. This is the basis of all relationships and of society and of a possibility to one day have a reflection of Paradise on Earth. A home away from Home.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
QUIETLY
Is there any hope for me? Good Friday not so good. A deep slumber of mystery, A soul troubled to darkly brood, A distracted mind of matter, But knock knock, knock on wood, Who’s there to lovingly shatter My illusions? For truth is food. Wake me up before you go - Resurrection will upon crucifixion intrude: Resist injustice, rediscover my glow, Because, inside, I’m in a sunny mood. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A NEW LIGHT
You appear, a new light, Hesitant yet persistent, Dimmed and yet bright; Curiously observant Because it feels so right. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 