THE HURTING SPACE

Allow yourself the space to hurt,
To mourn, to miss what is gone;
If your tears want to wet your shirt,
Let them fall, and flow, and run.

Give yourself enough time to heal,
The heart needs a while to transform;
To intuit, to perceive, to deeply feel
Is for the heart simply the norm.

Walk away slowly from your past,
No need to rush, you’re not coming back.
Take in everything, first to the last,
And then continue down that one-way track.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

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

MANY PARTS

A day is full of many days
And a night is full of many nights
The way is divided into many ways
And the Light will awaken all your lights.

True love has many parts
And moves many listeners’ hearts
And nothing can ever tear true lovers apart.

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

TIME TO PART

It’s time to part
With peace of heart,
Reconciliation the chart -
Lord, how great Thou art.

Finally letting go
Of pain and sorrow,
Of wanting and woe -
You reap what you sow.
You forgive, forget and grow.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

LOVERS AND TRUTH

Lovers, you have to tell yourselves the truth. The only thing that may unite or separate you is the truth. The only thing that should keep you together or tear you apart is the truth. The only thing that can really merge or divide you is the truth. Truth is a function of love and love is a function of truth. You cannot separate them one from the other because the aim of love is to give you freedom but, as we know, only the truth can set you free.

If you love something, set it free – if it comes back to you, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. If you love something, tell it the truth – if it stays with you, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. If something claims that it loves you, ask it the truth – if it tells you the truth, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. Truth is the ultimate determiner of love.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

NEVER STOP

Don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid
To follow your heart and go for your love;
Rejection can shatter the plans best laid –
The important thing is that your heart did move
And you moved outwardly along with this inner motion,
For movement is the spirit’s most important need –
It will climb every mountain and cross every ocean
Until it has itself from all its shackles freed.
The soul will always love something or someone,
And this love will make it laugh and make it bleed
And make it outgrow itself and never be done,
Following the path Home wherever it may lead.
Some chapters end in joy, and some end in sorrow,
But neither of these can hold the spirit down forever –
An inner restlessness will grip it again tomorrow;
Until it gets back Home, it will never stop. Never.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ASK NOT

All I asked for was the truth -
But that question alone
was enough
to disturb, to disrupt
and to destroy everything.

Ask, and you shall be given.
Ask not, and you shall be forgiven.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

RELATIONSHIP PURPOSE

If you don’t make each other happy,
then what’s the point in being together?
To lift each other up when you’re feeling crappy,
And be there for one another in every weather.

And forgive each other when you make mistakes
And learn from your actions, mistakes and reactions
And make the effort to grow, no matter what it takes,
Learning to understand yourselves and your actions

Love is a house and a road,
Is a journey and a destination,
Is a relief and a load,
Is intensity and elation.
Love is your heart talking loud and clear,
Telling you this is who I want near and dear,
Telling you, Have no fear for I have no fear,
Anywhere we set off to, together, we will get there.

And when you laugh together
And when you grow together
You will one day thank the Almighty Father
For bringing you together.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

WHY DO WE HURT THE MOST?

Why do we hurt the most
The people whom we love the most
And who love us the most?
Why do we push away the strongest
The people who pull us the deepest?
Why do we understand the least
The people who understand us the most?
Why do we lose
Those who have found us?

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river