Allow yourself the space to hurt, To mourn, to miss what is gone; If your tears want to wet your shirt, Let them fall, and flow, and run. Give yourself enough time to heal, The heart needs a while to transform; To intuit, to perceive, to deeply feel Is for the heart simply the norm. Walk away slowly from your past, No need to rush, you’re not coming back. Take in everything, first to the last, And then continue down that one-way track. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Love
SOMETHING’S HAPPENING
New things start When you’re not looking Old things end When you’re not looking New things start When you’re not looking In Creation’s kitchen There is always something cooking. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MANY PARTS
A day is full of many days And a night is full of many nights The way is divided into many ways And the Light will awaken all your lights. True love has many parts And moves many listeners’ hearts And nothing can ever tear true lovers apart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ACCEPTING THAT
Accepting that you are not the one
for the one you love and want the most
is the most hurtful pain to sleep upon
Night after night hugging a ghost.
Accepting rejection without rejecting acceptance
of and by yourself and those who love and value you
is a difficult and uphill task, a complicated dance,
but also a chance for you to liberate and revalue you.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
DAY’S START
A peace of mind and a peace of heart - The path outlined on the inner chart - Ready to make of love life’s highest art - A peace of mind and a piece of your heart - This is how the day should start. You of me, I of you, a part - Nothing and no one can tear us apart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ONLY ONE THING
A new phase A new song plays My heart differently prays The end of days The going of new ways Only one thing stays The same, missing you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GORDIAN KNOT
I can’t find the words I can’t find the right chords Our messages have become swords Cutting deeper than we thought. Will they cut through our Gordian knot And free us? Or not? But free us from what? From ourselves or from our fears? My anxiety level and my tears Will colour the remainder of my years. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TIME TO PART
It’s time to part With peace of heart, Reconciliation the chart - Lord, how great Thou art. Finally letting go Of pain and sorrow, Of wanting and woe - You reap what you sow. You forgive, forget and grow. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVERS AND TRUTH
Lovers, you have to tell yourselves the truth. The only thing that may unite or separate you is the truth. The only thing that should keep you together or tear you apart is the truth. The only thing that can really merge or divide you is the truth. Truth is a function of love and love is a function of truth. You cannot separate them one from the other because the aim of love is to give you freedom but, as we know, only the truth can set you free.
If you love something, set it free – if it comes back to you, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. If you love something, tell it the truth – if it stays with you, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. If something claims that it loves you, ask it the truth – if it tells you the truth, it is yours; if it doesn’t, it never was. Truth is the ultimate determiner of love.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
NEVER STOP
Don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid
To follow your heart and go for your love;
Rejection can shatter the plans best laid –
The important thing is that your heart did move
And you moved outwardly along with this inner motion,
For movement is the spirit’s most important need –
It will climb every mountain and cross every ocean
Until it has itself from all its shackles freed.
The soul will always love something or someone,
And this love will make it laugh and make it bleed
And make it outgrow itself and never be done,
Following the path Home wherever it may lead.
Some chapters end in joy, and some end in sorrow,
But neither of these can hold the spirit down forever –
An inner restlessness will grip it again tomorrow;
Until it gets back Home, it will never stop. Never.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 