Of Contemporary Assessment

DISCERNING

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

I fear
The daily commute
To the valley of the mute
The echoless cry of my silent flute
Digs a hole in my soul
Wringe me mad
I fear

Mockery sticks his head around the door
You no waving yo flag no mo?
Blackhawk down
My dreams, stranded shipwrecks
Scuttle each hurriedly into safety
Hiding they fearfully await the scorching passage
Of the locals’ raging raid –
Some will be caught, shot, mocked
Some will sacrifice themselves
That the finer ones may escape the drape
For tomorrow’s blossoming

Quiet now
Wait for the Sign.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

PEACE IS A STRANGER

~ Che ~ 6 Comments

How much is peace worth?
How many countries on earth?
How many blood-sprinkled shirts?
How many interrupted births?

How many truths? How many lies?
How many will regret a compromise?
What price is worth the prize?

This is the danger:
Peace is a stranger

On earth.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ARMED ROBBER

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The bullet leapt
Wept the barrel with
Sorrow’s silent shriek protesting
The bullet’s hunger

Feeding the
Blood bank’s Belly, saving
Not life, but your account
Of – what? – your life?

Countless Cowries
Bagged in bloated
Human hide
Yet not enough to buy back

Recompense.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

BECAUSE THE CROSS IS LOST

~ Che ~ 9 Comments

Never look too deep into another person’s eyes
Never follow far the trade another person plies
Never question hard the words another person says
Never study long the games another person plays

Never think a king has all it takes to be a king
Never think a singer always has a song to sing
Never think a warrior has a warrior-heart in him
Never think a woman has true purity within

Never expect that your friend considers you their friend
Never expect that your guard will guard you to the end
Never expect that your secrets will be safe with me
Never expect that you can honour your vows truly

Because, my brother, man has turned into a beast of late
Because, my sister, yesterday we wandered out a gate
Because, my dear friend, there’s a new colour surrounding us
Because, my friend, people of planet earth have lost the Cross.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

WEALTH OF POVERTY

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

They shrink away instinctively
Disgustedly
From the poor
As though poverty were a disease

But even faster they
Avert their thought-sprinkled eyes
Nobody wants to see Shame
The shame mirrored within

Who is ashamed of whom?
Of what?
The rich is ashamed for being rich
The poor is ashamed for being poor

They both are ashamed of being
In the company of each other
One hopes the tides will turn
One fears the tides will turn.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE WALL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Ten thousand windows
Without a latch –
The light streams in
Sound vibrates in
But there is no air
And so we die
The sun on our faces
The singing of the world in our ears.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

SURVIVAL

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

How many will survive when the drones
Say Hello
When a young lady, barely out of
School, is fingering somewhere a hidden button
And a closed-minded kid, for whom
The world is a distant myth
Sits for ours masturbating a joystick?
Their message is a drone
Their package death faster than the
Speed of sound –
How many will survive when the mad
Men on the other side also get their hands
On the deadly secrets of death?
How many will survive to teach tomorrow?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WAR AND PEACE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

There is a lonely patch of plateau
Hidden away on the mountain highs
Behind the windstrong oaks
Betwixt twin peaks
It is where we parked peace, away
From sight
A sore spot in our memory.

Like a dark crack between two Valleys
Ass cheeks you burn to scratch
The world’s buttocks hidden away too
Is shifting restively restlessly because
There is an itch down there, a mad itch
And its name is war.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

MONEY

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Money markets
The feet are far from the heart
Don’t get me started
I’ll never stop abusing you
I just can’t get enough of you

Why am I crying, you say?
I’m crying because my heart is cold
I’m crying because I feel no pain
I’m crying because I’m dying
And I don’t care.

I just like having it, owning it
Taking it, but I’m crying.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

POLITICS

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

You never let the sun rise
Without it too making a compromise
Truths are protected by subtle lies

Give a little, grieve a little
Always grease a lot, take it all
In the spirit of we-sacrifice

Taboo and sacrilege you court
Hiding from safe place to safe place
Waving to your constituent electorate

But wait!, it’s a game, right?
Well played. You won again.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije