I want to grow
I want to know
What’s outside the window
Of my sorrow
I want to go
Where pain cannot follow
Too deep to flow
Too far for tomorrow
The incredible today Show
Thousandfold ecstasy and woe
Changes me into what I need to know
Ahead of tomorrow.
Many more miles to go
The first step is to sow
Hope, sow Joy, sow kindness despite sorrow
Growth is a stream, gently row.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
I never knew there was so much love
In the world until I was down;
I never knew there was so much hate
In the world until I wore a crown.
You just have to accept humanity the way it is;
People will surprise you with their love and their hate;
People will surprise you with betrayal and with loyalty;
A thousand changes everyday will be your fate.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
As I travel the world outwardly, I also travel through myriads of inner worlds inwardly.
Within short periods, I interact with people of different mentalities, characters, backgrounds, histories, personalities and inner worlds; people whose inner lives are often completely different from mine but sometimes also extraordinarily similar to mine.
And I’ve learned one thing. It is not the outer world that is big and vast; it is the inner world that is vaster and more diverse than the universe. But it is also that same inner world that is the smallest, most singular and most undifferentiated space in all of creation.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Before you hear the train You feel the wind; Before you feel the pain Your inner voice starts to softly sing. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
We cannot use God to hide away from the world. Rather we should use God to engage with, decipher and overcome the world. Above all, the world within us. God is not for cowards or weaklings. God is for the brave, the bold, the adventurous, the determined, the open, those who are ready to use the earthlife for that for which it was granted to them: to experience, and to grow through this experiencing.
The form or the content of the experiencing is different for each person. For some it is a quiet thing they need to experience, for others it is a loud thing; for some it is a popular thing they must dare, for others it is an unpopular or even a seemingly inconsequential thing; for some it is a controversial thing, for others it is a safe and boring and therefore annoying and unbearable thing; for some it is personal love, for others it is objective love.
Everybody has those things that will call their heart deeply – and running to God will still not free you from them. There is no escape because it is inside you. God is not there to hide you from yourself or from your challenges. God is there to help you to deal with them. That is why HE granted you this earth life, because HE knows you will need every second of whatever length of time you earned for yourself in this current incarnation.
So, get to work! Go for it. Set off with the business of living by experiencing. God will help you if you are brave and honest.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
People are like clothes Sometimes we change them Personalities are like clothes Sometimes we change them Consciousnesses are like clothes Sometimes we change them Places are like clothes Sometimes we change them Inwardly and outwardly For similar reasons And in between changing them We are naked. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Sometimes you are just not someone’s type. They might be attracted to you for a while, curious about you, interested in you, be entertained by you. But in the end they will betray you or leave you, because deep within their heart you are actually not their type or what they’re looking for.
And there are two types of them. Those that will tell you honestly up front. And those who won’t.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
How many people are you? I’m two. If you don’t see me through You won’t know who’s talking to you. Some people I see Are three Dealing with them you have to be Relating with all three Simultaneously. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
When the wound heals outside Without healing inside Baby you are beautiful inside and outside Your smile is open wide But your heart, the one that cried But your heart, the one that lied But your heart, the one that died Is closed up on the inside And will continue to pretend and to hide… Your laughter is it pain or is it pride? Lonely bride You are a lonely bride. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
There is an anger that cannot be stopped Until it has burned its way through the heart And left a trail of cold ash and dropped Off shrivelled and twisted like abstract art On the canvas where memories are developed Negatives left behind for a seeker’s chart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 