A NEW BEGINNING

A beautiful day,
My heart opens in joy and gratitude
And begins to pray:
Thank You, Lord, for healing, for fortitude,
For blessing my way
With true friends and a heart of quietude,
For sending Your Ray
Of warmth into the depth of my solitude.

Although I lost my woman
I gained new friends and a reopened heart.
With pain grows acumen;
Life is a journey, Your Word is the Chart.
It’s hard to be a true man
But every new day is a good day to start.
Daily You make me human,
moulding through experiences my innermost part.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

BECOMING CIRCUMSPECT

A year passed by so quickly, like a whirlwind. The most important lesson I have learned: Value people who tell you the truth, for they are rare. Be sparing with your trust. And know that, unfortunately or fortunately, there is always something more to every story you hear. The exceptions to this rule are rare. So, become circumspect, even as you love harder. Because the harder you love, the deeper you go into the heart of truth and deception. The human heart is on earth to grow, and it grows only by intense and authentic experiencing of itself and of other hearts. So, open your heart to everything, but know this: “Everything” includes both the light and the dark, both the dependable and the treacherous, coming both from strangers as well as, even more so, from the people you trust.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

QUIETLY

Is there any hope for me?
Good Friday not so good.
A deep slumber of mystery,
A soul troubled to darkly brood,
A distracted mind of matter,
But knock knock, knock on wood,
Who’s there to lovingly shatter
My illusions? For truth is food.
Wake me up before you go -
Resurrection will upon crucifixion intrude:
Resist injustice, rediscover my glow,
Because, inside, I’m in a sunny mood.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

A NEW LIGHT

You appear, a new light,
Hesitant yet persistent,
Dimmed and yet bright;
Curiously observant
Because it feels so right.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TIME WILL TELL

Time is such a strange thing. We always forget how long it is. One day you will change and you will look back and ask yourself Why. Why did I do that? Why did I not do that? Why did I say that? Why did I not say that? Why. Was it really worth it?

If it was, you will know and you will be happy. If it wasn’t, you will know and you will be sad.

But only time will tell you what your heart is still too blind or too stubborn or too immature to see today.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

MARCH TOWARDS APRIL

So many things ending in my life this month, as March ends. And so many things starting. Looking forward to April. Is my heart big enough to contain and bear it all? Yes, my heart is always big enough. And when it isn’t, it simply grows some more, grows again.

Aries, as ever, you end the old and bring the new. For me, to me, in me.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

SOMETHING’S HAPPENING

New things start
When you’re not looking

Old things end
When you’re not looking

New things start
When you’re not looking

In Creation’s kitchen
There is always something cooking.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

DAY’S START

A peace of mind and a peace of heart -
The path outlined on the inner chart -
Ready to make of love life’s highest art -
A peace of mind and a piece of your heart -
This is how the day should start.

You of me, I of you, a part -
Nothing and no one can tear us apart.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ADJUSTING

You overcome the pain
By becoming one with it.
You lighten the rain
By learning to dance in it.
You conquer rejection
By accepting it.
You unburden affection
By confessing it.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

EMOTIONAL FREEDOM

God is teaching me to not be emotionally dependent on any human being on Earth; to have nobody of whom I think or feel that I cannot live without this person. It’s a painful process, but to everybody who has rejected or is rejecting me, I say Thank you. Whatever your intention was, God has made something greater out of it.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains