SWAN SONG

Always remember one thing
If it’s true love it can’t move on overnight
It has to close its ring
Heal its wound, acquire new insight
And make the heart a swan-song sing.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

WITHOUT YOU

The people you expect to be there
Are farthest away when you need them near
The beautiful world is barren and bare
Without you. I need you here
To share with me my hope and fear
And marvel at the sunsets rare
And be my sunrise and midnight clear.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ROSES OF GRACE

It’s only by the grace and power of God that we are able to forgive some people. But we are. For the sake of our own inner peace and soul health. We are. Because we want to. And we receive the help to do so. Help to be free of hatred, free of anger, free of bitterness and, eventually, free of hurting and pain.

Sometimes my emotions feel like flowers and today I am full of roses. Love is a strange medicine. It hurts when it heals, and it caresses and brings pleasure when it is actually causing damage. Don’t assume all is well simply because someone is smiling. When they’re crying is usually when they’re most honest and healthy and in the process of healing.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

YEAR OF ACHING

What a difference a year can make
Depending on the path you take
The pillars you shake
The bonds you break
The demons or the angels you wake
And the thirsts you slake.

For whose or for what’s sake?
For something real or for something fake?
Some say the heart is a lake
Beneath its surface there swims a snake
Your happiness is at stake
And yet all you seem to do is ache and ache.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FIGHT FOR IT

You have to fight to be free -
True freedom, inner freedom -
Fight your fears and anxiety,
The chains of your inner fiefdom;
Fight your propensity and proclivity
For weakening pleasure ;
Fight your despondency
And fight your insecurity
With courageous Hope in equal measure.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ONCE YOU TASTE TRUE LOVE

Once you taste true love
Lust becomes a mechanical chore
Pleasure is no longer enough
You want something more.

You learn to recognise the grain
And separate it from the chaff -
You want to feel that joy again
You want your heart to laugh.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TREASURE IT

When someone loves you
Really loves you
Treasure it above due
It is worth much more than you know

Lack of love is poverty too
Lack of joy and companionship too -
Treasure love above due
It is worth much more than you know.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE POWER IN THE COURAGE TO BE TRUTHFUL

Truth is so powerful. There is almost nothing
That you cannot forgive a truthful person.
It’s a strange phenomenon. What is hurting
You is healing you, is teaching you a lesson.
Even while suffering, you can’t stop trusting.

Something about them awakens respect in us.
Truthful people fascinate the coward in us,
Inspire the warrior in us, touch the human in us.
In the depth of their sin, yet they carry the cross.
Even at their worst, they’re still the best of us.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

EVERYONE CAN BE HAPPY

There is somebody that loves you genuinely; 
May you find that person -
And may you also love that person genuinely.
But if you don’t find or love that person,
Still may you find happiness in life.
Not everyone finds a husband or a wife,
But everyone can be happy genuinely.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES

Why don’t people take opportunities
When they come?
Most especially those opportunities
That come from
The heart and appeal to the sixth sense
And, if grasped, lead us back to the essence
Of the purpose of being human and fulfilled.
A happiness, a love, heartfelt and God-willed.
The best opportunities
Don’t make us wealthy.
The best opportunities
Make us happy.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river