Of Desire

PREY

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

She saw a hunter resting in the forest
His manly shoulders
Caused the trees to heave
In expectation –

She ruffled the leaves of his hair
Placed her hand on her heart
As she read his rising thoughts
He had been waiting for her.

Tremble not, lovely maiden,
Stretch out your hands and pluck
My golden fruit
For it hath not ripened in vain

This forest whispers
Told me you were
Coming…
The hunter hath found his mark.

The queen of hearts
Has met her match.
Black grass will quiver tonight
But the forest will keep our secret, my dear.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

KISS IN THE WOODS

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I met a kiss
As I walked through the woods
It came out from behind a tree
Out of the cold

And met my lips
When I was not looking
It sent a shock of sorrow
Through my memories of tomorrow

And when I opened my eyes again
It was gone.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

MISTY PAST

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On the way to Falkenstein
I knew you were mine

On the way from Falkenstein
I knew you were mine

But when we stood side by side
Upon that castled immortality
I knew only that the great divide
Yawns yet ‘twixt longing and reality

And if we true will call this meeting our last
Then, woman, never lie away our past.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

DEATH OF A FLOWER

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

You are afraid of a flower
She smiled sadly at me
My bosom blossoms for you

My thorns, they prick, I know
But love hurts the lover
And love hurts the loved

And I’m dying, I’m dying for you
Lie down in my grave with me
Let’s be reborn together.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

FISHERMAN

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Daily my heart weeps
My soul is drenched in a river
Flowing with thoughts of you

Of late I have become
A fisherman
Richly rewarded for my toil

Bravely diving into the lake of love
Daily my heart weeps
With joy.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

I CAN’T SLEEP

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

I can’t sleep
Nor can I weep
If sadness were a grey cloud
I am the bottomless lake from which it arose

I miss your laughter, your mirth
Like dawn misses a birdsong
On a cold concrete city street
Before it fades away

Each time I burn pain into you
I burn pain into me; but if I
Were to not bite and hurt you so deeply
How would you continue to think of me?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

BEFORE I DIE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Life is a vineyard
I’m thinking of wine, you know wine?
Internalise life in little sips
Don’t rush me, don’t rush you
Life even then is strong enough.

Life is a graveyard
You pass it by, reluctant to look in
It scares you
Littered with the memories of the reflection
Of your certain destiny
It brings you into deepest reflection
Most sober. Life, you scare me to death.

Before I die I want to love somebody
I need to love somebody
I cannot just come and go like that
I want to love somebody with all my heart
With all my heart
At least once in my life.

And then I loved somebody and it
Was still not enough. And then I knew:
Before I die, I need to believe in something
And fight for something and live
For something more important to me
Than my own self. To be myself is
To become selfless.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING?

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

I want the lines of your palms
Written in my diary
My future lives
As though they were already past
My days numbered
My deeds counted

And when I scoop your two palms to my face
Inhale your peroxide breath
Exhale my soul, blue kiss
Your eyes, too round full moons
Have dawned on me with undisguised thoughts
Warning me:

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

KISSING IN THE RAIN

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Caked by the moon’s blood
It was our virginal touch
I thought of you
As a wolf howling for mystery

As we silently
Touched without a sigh
All I remember is the look
In your observant eyes

Muddied
By the moon’s blood
No rain could
Wash it away.

Dance, ye shivering droplets
Our skin is voyeur
Our dance is romance
Immortalise our first kiss.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

JUST BEING I

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

She named me River
Because I whet her lowlands
In the hour of her drought
– I saw a palm tree
Hotly pursued by a multitude

Waving palms
But I did not understand
The power from which they sprung
Forth – must I understand?
Which sane river stops to understand itself?

Waters may rise to clouds to fall back as rain
But what woman rises from her heart to her head
To peer back down into her heart from her head
To understand herself
Without losing the misty way back to the dawn?

For she is mysterious yes it is complicated
As simple as a riddle
The flowing is the being, picture-perfect
It is frozen
Faster! Faster! Faster!

Breathlessly I never tire
The day she catches me
Is the day
She will lose her desire for me. For
She calls me River.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije