I forgot
I know not what
Because I forgot
And so I wander
And I wonder
Trying to remember.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Of Inner States
EMPTY
It’s one of those wordless nights
When your lover isn’t talking to you
Or you’re not listening – one of the two
Who is thine love? She may be Nature
She may be Poetry, may be a thought hard to grasp
Or a human heart you suddenly can no longer decipher
She may be your path to destiny.
It’s one of those nights when I’m staring
At the TV and not seeing it, staring
At my phone and chatting with no-one, staring
At my saxophone and not playing it, staring
At empty paper and not writing anything.
Yet I’m full.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
THE HEART WILL GROW
When, blinding,
The sun’s rays, binding,
The sun’s gaze, finding its way
Through a window, minding
Your business for you, a dazzling hello
Like a friend’s caring
Like a friend’s sharing a heart
You shut tight your eyes tight
A moment –
When love won’t wane, won’t dim, won’t fall
When all you get is love, love, love
You bite back the tears of incomprehension
And open wide your soul –
What your eyes can’t bear, the heart can hold
The heart will grow, the heart will grow!
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
THE FIRE WITHIN
Life
The bud struggling with itself
Longing to burst into flower
And sacrifice herself to the light
Nations locked in inner turmoil
Searching for the other half
Of the yellow sun
People thirsting for freedom
And then a Cadillac rolls past
A homeless person under the bridge
Their eyes meet in shock of recognition
They are the same
Or soon will be.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
THE SPIRIT THAT AWAKENED IN THE WOODS, HILLS AND LAKES
What has been the point of all that toil?
City’s prisoner, corporate spoil
A long line of sleeping, not being alive
Continuous weeping
Waiting for the day I’ll be reaping
That, after which I strive.
My heart has been leaping, trying to see the sun
Beeping, calling for the sun
Until my heart was full to the point of bursting
Full of longing
Blossoming of a full sense of belonging
Deep has been my thirsting –
This holiday, like a holy stay, in Gras- and Windermere
What have you done to me? Suddenly so clear
The poet in me again, ready to go his way
To be confronted
By all the effects of a life he’s always wanted
Work is as play.
There is no alternative to being who you should be
No wealth, comfort, security will make you happy truly
Nothing can compensate a spirit for a wasted life
A deep sense of guilt
At death, crumbling, the empty life that was built
Has not soothed the inner strife.
Boldly go your way, seek no reward, Bravery
Must be your natural part, unaffected, unwavering –
No poet ever wrote for money who served Inspiration
The path is the goal
The burning of the Spirit Flame deep within the Soul
Unpoisoned by Ovation.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
FINDING STRENGTH FROM INVISIBLE PLACES
No one to talk to,
And no one to tell that to.
Drawing strength
From invisible places
Everyday.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
CHERISHED ALWAYS
I know you’re waiting for me to come
You know I’m waiting for you to become –
How long?
An upturned Calabash hides something
A broken mirror is still a mirror
A song unsung – is it a song?
A loveless soul – is it a soul?
When lovers part, are they still lovers?
Have they learnt how to love
Or forgotten how to love a little?
Upsidedownworld.
Turn it upsideupanddownsidedown
But leave the middle in the middle.
The world grows quiet quietly
A lone car passes now and then
A dog barks gently, night falls lightly
And the studio condenses around me again.
Who was I thinking of just now?
Where was I before evening called me back?
A heart is a thousand stories
And forgotten memories.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
ODE TO QUIETNESS
Good morning, Quietness,
I remember how with surprise
I felt your absence last night.
And did I thirst for you? First I thrashed about wildly,
Clutching at every suggestion of you,
Then, exhausted, like a leopard I crouched, still,
And lay in wait for you – awake, listening,
Until the morning came… My life rolled before my inner eyes,
Awakening you from the depths of my heart –
Good morning, Quietness, as I fall asleep at last.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER
Our hearts are broken in our youths,
The pain is deep and deeply buried
Beneath our adult ways and fashioned truths;
First love and first death never are forgotten…
First hopes and first dreams, of our young hearts begotten,
Within our innermost souls are ever carried.
Our hearts are shaken in our youths,
Our melodies tempered, our vision stirred…
Amidst all in the world that hurts or soothes
We sometimes slip back again into old times
And see young smiles and remember dead rhymes –
Our backward glance is never completely impaired.
Our hearts are made and formed yesterday,
And today we continue to actualise
The longing that awakened with the early morning ray…
And though yesterday is all done and gone away,
Yet we have it with us always in our hearts everyday
As we boldly heavenwards continue to strive and rise.
Yes, our hearts are awakened in our youths,
And who or what can stop a heart?
It wants to grow; like a stem it shoots
Towards light and life, towards stimulation –
And we shall make it, through trial, tribulation
And whateverelse it be that ever be on our chart!
Forever, forever, the candle is flaming…
And laughing and rising and working, remaining the same.
Our hearts are strengthened in our youths,
If we truly choose to live!
Yesterday, today and forever are booths –
We exit one and enter the next;
And hope and promise shall always be our text,
Yes, Father Above, and our gratitude to THEE we give!
Our hearts are born wild, live wild; until the taming
Gives us depth, dimension and the truth behind our naming.
Yesterday, today and forever…
Alive today, dead never –
We flower forever.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Image by PublicDomainImages
HERE
Where do we find the meadows
Where do we find unsullied fields
Where do we find clear rivers
Safe streets, calm roads?
Where do we find prompt justice
Where do we find the fairest laws
Where do we find true balance
Round wisdom, pure love?
Where do we find harmony
Where do we find melody deep
Where do we find communion
Unity, respect?
The Desert is spreading, spreading and spreading
And eating up our gardens and drying up our fields
The Wanderer is going, going and going
Receiving, containing and learning always.
What is true existence? What is the good life?
Within or without? Or here or there?
There is nothing better than Home…
Home is here with us
We only need to give it a chance
And it will make us as happy as
Ever human beings could be on earth…
Home is ever here with us
In our hearts, at our fingertips…
Let it flow.
Where do we find fulfillment
Where do we find the heavenly
Where do we find perfection
Salvation, rebirth?
We find it right Here
In our hearts, in our homes, in our countrysides and cities,
In our striving, in our suffering, in our experiencing…
We find it in our growing, in our giving, in our maturing…
Nobody is going to do it for us
So we have to keep doing it
Until we get it right at last and forever.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
(Image by Geralt)
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 