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
Of Dark Feelings
TRUST, BROKEN
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
COMPLICATED
They will hurt you It’s what they do When they feel attracted to you. Do they love you? It’s hard to say. Do they hate you? It’s hard to say. What they feel is hard to explain But it will cause you pain. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GOLD’S LOW STANDARDS
Who decided that gold is the standard? Why do we think it is so valuable? A shiny metal. Can we eat it? Yet we bombard Humankind with unkind mined metal unable To nourish spirit or body or soul or even mind - But greed needs a rampart for greed is blind And money is the mockery of the honest grind. Silver and gold have brought sorrow untold To the timid and the bold, the young and the old, Warm-blooded and cold-hearted who all departed Without a dust of gold from the path they started Upon, seeking value in materialism’s charms And losing their value in materialism’s arms’ Creeping stranglehold that grins and harms. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LONG FALL
The thing which if kissed will bring you the wildest happiness Is the thing which if missed will bring you the deepest sadness The higher you did fly The longer you will fall down Until you hit the ground And instantaneously die. It is not the final impact that hurts but the long excruciatingly long fall unable to reverse or arrest or accelerate the moment that will end it all. A time of remembering A time of regretting A time of wishful extrapolating And never forgetting. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WHAT YOU FELT YOU WOULD FEEL
When the worst happens, The thing you fear the most, A strange thing happens: Your fear becomes a ghost. It was never real, It was imagination, It was expectation - What you felt you would feel. But aren’t we spirit? Pain is the hand That forces us to grow and to understand There’s nothing ‘twixt the sea and the sand That can’t be healed by spirit’s magic wand. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
I’M FINE
How are you today?I’m still hurting from yesterday I don’t know what to say I’m very sad even when I play Lord, heal my broken heart, I pray I’m lost, I can’t find the way… - I’m fine, thank you And you? Thank you I’m fine too. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
REJECTION
When people reject you They don’t realise they’ve done you a favour; You can move on from the rejected you And metamorphose into a higher nature. Had they accepted you You would have remained the old creature In that lower state unaware that you Could have activated this new extra feature That has deepened, strengthened, elevated you. Rejection is ejection into motion, An injection of self-reflection Towards redemption and transformation. An injunction to move, and motivation To self-improve in a new direction With grit, with purpose, and with intention. On the path towards self-realisation and self-actualisation, every new rejection Is another tiny course-correction. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
Those that live in foreign lands But never really left their home Whose hearts never cup the sands Upon which their reluctant feet roam And the prints made where each boot stands Will be washed away by the evening foam Of a suspicious tide that never understands The ripened fruits of an alien-like biome - - Ye shall go back home with empty hands To a strange land that is no longer home. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
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
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 