The character of the end One month passes one year passes 10 years pass Still no sight no word no message No communication That’s when it sinks in That was really the end He is gone Gone for good. The disappearance of friends Ends are Not Trends The heart never mends The end never ends. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Change
CHANGE CHANGES CHANGE
There is something about change Once it starts, it is irreversible The inexorable march is strange Like a Divine verdict incontestable You see it happening yet you cannot stop it When you try to stop it you only develop it Even faster and make yourself expendable. There is something about change It is is surreal. Unreal. It is strange. Change changes the parameters of change And never changes in the same way. Change changes change But never changes it in the same way. And never stops changing. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TIME DOES NOT CHANGE THINGS
Time doesn’t change things, they stay as they are. Events change things. Experiences change things. Things change things. Not time. Time only changes the outer appearance of the form of things.
Sometimes a thing that seems like it will last forever only lasts a short time and then changes, because the thing or event that will change it met it early.
While sometimes an other thing that seems flimsy and ephemeral stays unchanged for eternities, because the thing or experience that will change it has not yet met it.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
BEYOND PAIN
Pain they say is your friend But it is also your enemy. Be careful when it starts to bend, It can break you completely. Take small breaks from your pain Every once in a little while. Laugh at yourself or with a friend - If you can’t laugh, smile. Tell pain enough is enough When you’ve learned your lesson. After washing, turn the shower off And you can now start dressing Up, stepping out and showing up, Changing your narrative. Not pain but joy is the overflowing cup That we drink to eternally live. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
I HURT BADLY
There are pains I could bear When I was younger Which I cannot bear Any longer When I was younger, I was tougher My heart could recover Now I’m older, I’m harder No longer a bender, now a breaker No longer a healer, now a hurter So I don’t engage Unnecessarily, I don’t bother I just turn a new page. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SURREPTITIOUSLY
Things change so suddenly,
Or so slowly, it’s hard to tell the difference.
In quiet times, surreptitiously,
Change things which survived turbulence.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
DRAW YOUR SECOND BREATH
When I first came to Germany, I died, slowly and gradually. And - this is the worst part - I died alone, inside my heart. Some might say it is a death Akin to the planted seed That dissolves inside the earth En route to being freed; Freed from the past and the old - The path to growth into the new. But death is empty, dark, cold. And lonely. I never knew. There is a path that leads back to life; Beware - it is more painful than death And it too with loneliness is rife From which will emerge your second breath. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
FORGETTING AND FOCUSING
I dreamt that something did not arrive But think now as I may I cannot remember What it was in the night that didn’t arrive As though the memory I don’t remember Is itself what it was that did not arrive. Morning comes and I am alive Full of tomorrow’s energy and drive So I wonder what it was I forgot today I guess it must be yesterday. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE TURNING POINT
Sometimes you can‘t really tell When or why you lost interest in a person When exactly the bondage fell And you finally understood life’s lesson Being mediated to you through them A fallen leaf is a priceless gem It mothers and yields a new rising stem. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE STRANGE CHANGE
When the person you knew disappears and is no more than memories and pictures and daily through the door a stranger now in and out walks while in the old voice of before this stranger also with you talks welcome to disorientation shore. People really change, it is no myth - Experience totally today the person you’re now with - No human truly stays a monolith. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 