Of Change

THE FINAL IMPRESSION

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

The last picture we have of a person determines what we continue to think about that person; and yet that person might have changed the very next day after the last time we saw them.

But for years and decades after that we continue to hold this picture and this opinion about the person.

And should our paths ever cross again we usually begin to relate again to that person and that opinion and that picture and that character that was the one we last experienced and remember.

So, we end up talking to a ghost and missing the real person right there in front of us.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

LOOKING EVERYWHERE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
When people find what they are looking for
They find it’s not what they are looking for
And then they begin to look for
Clarity about what they are really looking for.

And they look for clarity everywhere,
In everything, in every way, they dare
Every adventure, no matter how rare,
Every experience that might get them there.

Because the possession of clarity
About one’s path and identity
Is the actual meaning of true life-quality
And the paramount shaper of reality.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

YOU CANNOT

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
You cannot be a man - or a woman -
And go through the world
Without the world going through you

You cannot deal with people
Without people dealing with you

You cannot tackle your task
Without your task tackling you

You cannot handle issues
Without issues handling you

You cannot finish your mission
Without your mission finishing you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

A LITTLE HAPPY EVERYDAY

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you love someone, but the person loves someone else. Or the person simply prefers a lifestyle different from the one which a life with you would have to offer them. So they choose or go after someone else who, or another path that, can offer them that lifestyle.

Being that the aim, the very aim, of life itself is Happiness, this experience of rejection cuts to the very heart of the essence of existence. The hurt can kill the soul. It makes people reappraise themselves, question their worth and even find fault in their own fundamental character. Yet, while self-examination is healthy, so also are self-love, self-understanding and self-acceptance equally necessary.

When trapped in a spiral of self-abnegation in which one no longer recognises oneself, It then becomes imperative to awaken, within one’s consciousness, a new narrative of life and of self in order to find the path to a new source of joy, as a new person. To outgrow the self-image that traps one in a cycle of pain, perhaps even to shed certain traits, and to learn to see oneself, one’s path and one’s Why with fresh new eyes. To find a new understanding of the purpose of life.

This is where the concept of never giving up comes into play. Every morning when you wake up, strive for joy. Be prepared to let go of those thoughts and those beliefs that weigh you down debilitatingly. Be ready and able every day to try a new path, a new thought, until you find the exit – and then you can take flight again.

Life is a jigsaw puzzle. Many parts fit, but many parts don’t fit also. And you have to move the pieces about in your heart and in your life continuously, often, and courageously in order to slowly put your answers together.

And, as you stride on along this way, try… try to be a little happy every day. In the end, that’s all you have. That’s all we have to share with one another. That is our humanity.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

HURT

~ Che ~ 1 Comment 
Love hurts.
Life hurts.
People hurt.
People hurt people.
And hurt people hurt people.

And when it hurts too much
People begin to avoid the touch
The inner touch
Sometimes they permit the outer touch
But only perfunctorily as such
Because even it hurts too much.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TRUST, BROKEN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Trust, broken.
Thoughts, woken.
Hurt, spoken.
Touch, token.

Unpreparable.
It comes from the one you don’t expect.
Unrepairable.
You’ll never again be able to not suspect.

Healing is an intellectual token
Once the trust has been broken.
Only the spirit can find a new rhyme
In its own way, in its own time.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

VANISHING

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Don’t come back after I’ve got used to your absence
Your absence has become your strongest presence
If you return too late you’ll only find yourself gone
Replaced by memory, you’ll be the invisible one.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

BE WHO YOU ARE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

It does not matter who your father is,
Or was. It only matters who you are;
Throw off the reputational burden of his
Life, whether a nobody, a crook or a star.

It does not matter who your mother is,
Was, or will be. You have your own destiny.
Be firm in rejecting her spirit’s liabilities,
Nor bask in her glory. Write your own story.

Never ever allow family to be your bondage.
If wealth is not health, detach and go higher.
The chains of name, blood, and heritage
Are human assumptions, not God’s desire.

God wants each unique creature to be true,
So experience and enrich the world as You.
Free your children too from the Obligation to
Follow, serve, help, complete or redeem you.

If your story happens to be your family’s too,
Then so be it, that’s who you genuinely are.
But if your story is totally different and new,
Don’t feel guilty; accept and be who you are.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ALL BECAUSE OF LOVE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
We make mistakes
And mistakes make us
Who we are
This is who we are

We make decisions
And decisions make us
What we are
This is what we are

We make friends
And friends make us
How we are
This is how we are

We make love
And love makes us
Why we are
This is why we are.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SONG OF RENEWAL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Once you burst the bubble,
Spare yourself the trouble;
Nothing that you do
can ever bring it back again.

The bubble had its season,
The bursting had its reason;
Their veracity’s value
Is not diminished by your pain.

The past looks real but isn’t,
The gift is in the present;
It makes you transform You -
The only goal you can truly attain.

Metamorphosis is life’s pleasure,
It’s a treasure beyond measure;
It makes you constantly renew
Your focus on your spiritual lane.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river