THE JOURNEY OF YOUR “I”

The miracle of life transcends the earth.
The adventures of the “I”
Survive many an earthly death and rebirth
And a “Beyond” not in the Sky
But right here beside you
And much too often beneath you.
Your Journey is shaping the Real you.

This is really the purpose of it all -
Not the Earthly but the Spiritual,
the true inner personality,
you the actual person, you, you, you!
Eternity requires integrity,
and self-conquest is our path thereto
in the struggle with the Material.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

INNER SPIRIT

It‘s not the outer age,
It‘s the inner Spirit and Sage
That determines superiority.

It’s neither youth nor ignorance
But lack of humility
That determines inferiority.

We are not of sand and dust
We are spirit and immortal ghost
Marching towards eternity.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FIGHTING AS YOURSELF

You fight by being yourself
You lose by losing yourself
You win by remaining yourself
Improving yourself, perfecting yourself
As yourself
Your deepest and highest and purest self.

When you‘re not good enough for someone
Don’t respond by becoming someone else
Stay quietly yourself, your authentic self -
When you’re too good to be true in someone’s view
Don’t adjust and lower yourself to their comfort level
Stay proudly yourself, your honest self -
Just strive to be the best version of yourself.

You can only attract those in tune with yourself
When you show yourself -
And if they are few and far between
It’s still worth is. The loneliness is mean
Crushing and worse when you’re not yourself.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TIME IS TOO LONG SOMETIMES

You have to wait a little while to really
Get to know people’s character truly
If you let them unfold themselves freely
Around you they will unravel duly -
Yes, they will start with a façade first ideally
But the heart, the heart, the heart is unruly
It will break rank and show itself verily
Eventually, for patience grinds masks cruelly
To submission. Truth emerges voluntarily.
Not every friend is a friend
Not every enemy is an enemy
But sometimes you have to wait till the end
To recognise each person clearly.
Unfortunately by then it might be too late
To correct what happened at the gate.
You let the wrong person in
And kept the wrong person out -
O voice within, o voice within, o voice within,
Help me to accurately check people out.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THAT ONE

You can come as close to me as you want
You still cannot get in.
You can go as deep into me as you want
But still deep within
My heart there is a door
And if you’re not the one it’s meant for
You can’t get in.

You can go as far away from me as possible
You still remain inside me
I can push you as far away from me as possible
But still deep inside me
There is one tender space
And you alone live inside this place
That is the home in me.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

I’M FINE

How are you today?

I’m still hurting from yesterday
I don’t know what to say
I’m very sad even when I play
Lord, heal my broken heart, I pray
I’m lost, I can’t find the way… -

I’m fine, thank you
And you?

Thank you
I’m fine too.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Hiding in plain sight
If you don’t want people to know you
Let them think they already know you
If you don’t want people to see you
Show them daily the you that is not you
They will be looking at you
But they will not see you

Conversely
You might be lonely
For the like-minded will be blindsided by you
And will not see you to connect with you
And what you do, they won’t know you’ve done
And when you go, they won’t know you’re gone
And when you die, nobody will miss you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE LIVING DEAD

I see dead people
They don’t know they’re dead
Their physical body is still living
And has not yet been shed

They walk and they talk,
They laugh, weep and they smile
They occupy all walks of life
And don’t always seem vile

Their mind silences their heart
Their intellect dulls their intuition
It seems insignificant
But it’s at the root of the human condition

Listen to your inner voice
Don’t leave everything to your head
Or you’ll be walking with the living
And not realise you’re dead.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

JEWELS AND THORNS

Somewhere it‘s day
Somewhere it’s night
Some hearts are sad
Some with joy bright

But even as the world
Continues to spin
The happy turn sour
The sad grow a grin

Sometimes you’re glad
Sometimes you’re down
Jewels and thorns
Adorn the human crown

What makes us human?
The ability to weep
And then laugh again
For our heart is deep.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

GRATITUDE

Gratitude gives joy
Brings joy
Is joy

Find your moment of gratitude today
Try a change of attitude, and pray
Climb unto a higher altitude.

Gratitude is a thing of joy.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river