Your Heart is an independent being, Don’t mess with it or it will show you pepper. All the wahala you think you’ve been seeing Will be yam when it shows you real shege. It will riot and refuse to obey you; It will sing praise songs to your enemies; It will believe things that are not true And long for its own self-decided remedies. It will turn into a wild unpredictable stranger With its own rules and on its own mission; It will rush forward and fear no danger, Driven by its own incomprehensible Vision. And when it hurts it will burn like hellfire; And when it laughs, you feel you’re in paradise; And when it loves it loves with fierce desire; But if it dies, your urge to live also dies. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Inner States
WHERE THE HEART BELONGS
Someone who doesn’t take you with both hands, willingly and eagerly and totally, that person is not your home, nor you theirs. No matter how much it hurts, tear yourself away from them and move on.
Wounds heal with time.
We live in two worlds simultaneously. The one world is politics and society, is work and recreation, is projects and ambitions and all kinds of responsibilities, is ideologies, and is even family too sometimes. This is the one world, in which we chase achievements.
But there is another world in which we also live. It is deeper, is more subtle, more intense, quieter, and often very invisible. It is the loves that come and go; the tears and longings that burn our hearts; the seldom laughter of genuine joy; the raw friendships; the secret passionate love affairs; the intimately guarded happy home; the given trust and the broken trust; it is the real us deep inside.
We live in these two worlds simultaneously. And then time passes, and we die. And our obituary is full of what we did in the one world. While all our memories from the other world depart with us quietly in our hearts. And in the hearts of those who shared it with us.
Wounds will heal with time. But, while you’re on that journey, don’t go to where your heart does not belong. Seek your happiness in being true to yourself, always.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
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
GOOD FOR THE SAKE OF YOU
When you do the right thing, you’re doing it for yourself. Always remember that. And let that be your motivation, your reward and your joy. Because you have to live with yourself always, and there is nothing worse than living with someone you don’t respect, someone you don’t trust, someone you don’t like and someone who is not in sync with you. And that person is yourself.
You are your own home, your own paradise or hell, and your own purgatory too in whom you have to recognise, discipline, purify and transform yourself. You are all you have. Handle yourself with care and with thought, with integrity. Any lesson you would like to teach your children one day, or wish you taught your children once upon a time, teach that lesson to yourself today. Lessons of character. Regard yourself as your first and last and only true child. If that child dies, you die.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
WHAT’S REALLY IMPORTANT?
The concept of “importance”, the way it exists for us, does not exist to God. What is important to God is the purity, health and harmony of His Creation, and the proper development of all its inhabitants in accordance with His Will.
A soul who, in our opinion, was very “important” in one earthlife can incarnate as a complete “nobody” – again judged by our concept – in the next. Obscurity and fame are both irrelevant to God, just as material wealth and material poverty play no role in determining our true value in God’s Creation. What we consider to be “good health” and “ill health” are but temporary conditions of our physical shells. Of more importance to the Divine Will is the condition of our spirit.
Paradise is a place of good spirits, and this is what is still lacking on earth. That is why “Thy Kingdom come” remains still just a prayer and not yet a reality, because His Will is yet to be done by us on earth as It is in Heaven. This is why we do not yet have Paradise here on earth too.
Nothing else is important. Not political power or military might; not wealth, fame or status; and not many other things and people to which we attach importance. The only thing that matters is the kind of soul you are, not just deep inside your heart, but also in your manifest action. Irrespective of whether you be the most unknown and obscure person in some invisible place somewhere, or whether you be the most visible and powerful person on earth.
It sounds strange, and it is hard to grasp, but the truth is that on that plane where eternal life plays itself out, the only thing that matters is character – true spiritual character. The good man and the good woman – the truly good people – are the ones who become the kings and queens. A completely different scenario from what obtains on Earth, on this temporary theatre where our physical life takes place.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
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
MY PATH
I‘m just on my lonely path But very few people know And even those that know Still don’t really know Because how can you know What I don’t truly show? The nature of my sorrow The depth of my flow For I still have many miles to go In my search for tomorrow And only I truly know The loneliness of my path. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SELF-CONTROL
There are some you don’t take, Even when they make themselves available, For heaven’s and your dignity‘s sake - Pleasure today will tomorrow be regrettable. The line you draw will be your lifeline, A line as high and thick as it is invisible and fine. The gap you maintain will maintain your pride; If you cross it, shame will become the great divide. Some things it’s better not to do, Not because of what you’ll gain or not gain, But because of what it will take from you; It can’t be repaired by even the deepest pain. Honour makes a nation And integrity makes a state - The day you learn to resist temptation Is the day you become great. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOU CANNOT
You cannot be a man - or a woman - And go through the world Without the world going through you You cannot deal with people Without people dealing with you You cannot tackle your task Without your task tackling you You cannot handle issues Without issues handling you You cannot finish your mission Without your mission finishing you. 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
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 