You cannot grow back a flower that’s dead You cannot stick back leaves already shed My mind has heard, my heart has bled You cannot take back the things you said. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of human beings
SILENT PLANETS
Some things are just not meant to be How ever hard you try to bring them about With a whimper, with a whisper, with a shout There is a planet Running away from a ray of light Coming from another planet Running in the other direction of night. They will never see each other Even though they sense that somewhere Another lonely planet is also out there. No whimper, no whisper, no shout - Silence is the satire of doubt. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DRAW YOUR SECOND BREATH
When I first came to Germany, I died, slowly and gradually. And - this is the worst part - I died alone, inside my heart. Some might say it is a death Akin to the planted seed That dissolves inside the earth En route to being freed; Freed from the past and the old - The path to growth into the new. But death is empty, dark, cold. And lonely. I never knew. There is a path that leads back to life; Beware - it is more painful than death And it too with loneliness is rife From which will emerge your second breath. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOU MUST BE PATIENT
There will be hope But the heart must cope First with a season Of conflict sans reason This moon is long faced And tied to a dead sea Rolling scrolls misplaced By startled history. You must be patient Time is clairaudient It hears your heart beating And your footfalls repeating The dance to victory. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
FRIENDSHIP IS FOR THE PATIENT
Step with each other Step without each other, but step Step ahead of each other Step behind each other, but step Step beside each other, step around each other Step over each other, step under each other But never ever step on one another. Feel our steps inside of each other. Step inspite of each other, but step Step to one another, Step away from one another, but… Step always for one another. Feel ourselves stepping inside of us. Friendship is for the patient. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BEYOND A.I.
Now that A.I. has mirrored our past the past has become boring - We need a new humanity at last with basic new senses for exploring a future that in a different context is cast, less artificial, less vain, less deploring, more human, simple, more steadfast at peace-making, tired of warring, free from materialism’s comfort ballast, our inner mobility restoring. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A DEEPER SURVIVAL
The more the world is flooded with A.I., the more I hunger for natural things - Natural images honest to the human eye, a genuine human voice that sings - Content that springs from the human “I”, what the original human spirit brings - The truth’s rough edges, not a smooth lie, the exertion that with evolution swings - The more the world is overwritten by A.I., the more I gravitate towards natural things. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
DISTANCE HAPPILY
Family finally - Friendship verily - Distance happily - Thought is vicinity Feeling is duplicity Emotion is complicity Intuition is veracity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
WHAT WE REALLY SEE
Nobody ever walks down the street, Everybody always walks through their own world. Nobody ever looks at the world, Everybody always looks at an image in their mind. Nobody lives outside Everybody lives inside Inside their own head, inside their own heart Until you see what a person is looking at In the core of their being You’ll never know what they are seeing When they are looking at you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
HUMAN GUITAR
A window into another world you are Smaller than a moon you are a star Nearer than proximity you feel from afar Sealed to others my heart to you is ajar You’ve got a ticket I’ve got a fast car I am the wound you are the tender scar Strumming my pain fingering my guitar. Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 