Of Maturing

NEVER STOP

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

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

VALUE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Don’t stay with people
Who don’t value you
Don‘t play with people
Who show you that they value you
More than you thought you deserve
To be valued.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

RELATIONSHIP PURPOSE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
If you don’t make each other happy,
then what’s the point in being together?
To lift each other up when you’re feeling crappy,
And be there for one another in every weather.

And forgive each other when you make mistakes
And learn from your actions, mistakes and reactions
And make the effort to grow, no matter what it takes,
Learning to understand yourselves and your actions

Love is a house and a road,
Is a journey and a destination,
Is a relief and a load,
Is intensity and elation.
Love is your heart talking loud and clear,
Telling you this is who I want near and dear,
Telling you, Have no fear for I have no fear,
Anywhere we set off to, together, we will get there.

And when you laugh together
And when you grow together
You will one day thank the Almighty Father
For bringing you together.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FOCUS ON THE ESSENTIAL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
It‘s okay to lose people as long as
You don’t lose yourself in the process
No matter how tempting.

It’s okay to gain people as long as
You also gain yourself in the process
Inspite of how tempting
it is
to push aside your spiritual development
in order to chase after someone
who has gone outside
or to adjust to and enjoy someone
who has come inside.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Free yourself of the fear of losing her
Free yourself of the thought of having
Or not having her
That’s not for you to control or decide
Only God has that Power
The only power you have is the power of love
All you can do is to love her
Love is life and Love is light
If you have love in your heart for her
Then just love her
And if you have no way of directly giving
Or showing that love to her
Then just let the love flow through you
And flow out of you
And flow out into the universe…

Your love will find its way to her
In the workings of the universe
One way or another.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains and
Poems from the inner river

PAIN AND GAIN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Without the pain
My life would have been so empty,
My spirit’s real gain
Are the lessons and they are plenty.

It is really possible
To lose a person and become whole,
It is really possible
To lose the world and gain your soul.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SHAME

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Don’t be ashamed
Of your feeling of shame
For your ability to feel ashamed
Protects you from coming to shame.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TO KILL A MAN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
I‘ve died a thousand times
And each time I’ve come back to life again

If I die one more time
Will I be able to survive this new pain?

Something must break a man one day -
Something he did say, or a game he did play,
Or a woman that one day crosses his way.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

BLACK IN

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
We Are the Same - Just as capable
Just as valuable - Just as intelligent
Just as resilient - Just as determined
To even out the score

And you cannot put me down
I have not yet had enough
I want some more
What are we waiting for?

Black does not belong to the back
But to the front and will come back
To the fore
Through the front Door.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SNIPPETS

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
Hard words are sometimes the kindest
Foraging eyes are sometimes the blindest
Life’s help is sometimes to put you to the test
It pushes you to move when you long to rest

I’ve never wanted something so badly before
I’ve never eaten to my fill and still wanted some more
I’ve never said goodbye and continued to feel so sore
I’ve never been so trapped before in a folklore

So many new things starting at the same time
Be patient when you’re looking for the right rhyme
Little doses of salt and pepper, curry and thyme
Life is sometimes a little sugar, sometimes a little lime

I love like Haily’s comet, ever and again I come again
Laughter fills my heart again and conquers the pain
I can’t explain it, I am a lake and I am the rain
And so are you, and every end is just another refrain.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river