Don’t get lost in the dark Wait for the mist to clear The emotions never speak the truth They are always informed and biased by feelings You just have to wait for the mist to clear It takes a shorter or longer time to pass Depending on your nature And depending on the circumstances Just don’t get lost in the dark. Azuka Chukwumerije
Of Maturing
SWAN SONG
Always remember one thing If it’s true love it can’t move on overnight It has to close its ring Heal its wound, acquire new insight And make the heart a swan-song sing. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ROSES OF GRACE
It’s only by the grace and power of God that we are able to forgive some people. But we are. For the sake of our own inner peace and soul health. We are. Because we want to. And we receive the help to do so. Help to be free of hatred, free of anger, free of bitterness and, eventually, free of hurting and pain.
Sometimes my emotions feel like flowers and today I am full of roses. Love is a strange medicine. It hurts when it heals, and it caresses and brings pleasure when it is actually causing damage. Don’t assume all is well simply because someone is smiling. When they’re crying is usually when they’re most honest and healthy and in the process of healing.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
EACH ONE HEAL ONE
We all have that one person who we don’t like to think of, but who we also never forget. That one person, the thought of whom causes us so much pain and anger. That one person who hurt us, or deceived us, or betrayed us, or belittled us and made us feel so small, or took advantage of us, or kicked us when we were down and weak, or made a fool of us, or stole what was precious from us, or led us astray, or lied against us, or harmed us.Maybe it was that one person who we trusted deeply and who betrayed this trust. That one person who left a permanent scar in our heart. We all have that one person who we don’t like to think about but who we also never forget.
And that person also has the one person who they don’t like to think about but who they also never forget. And so it goes round and round in a circle, and we are all locked and connected in a net of pain and disappointment and bitterness and betrayal and memory and hurt. And regret. No one is spared, no one is innocent, no one is free of pain or of guilt. We are the ones who teach each other the lessons of life and of the vagaries of the human heart. We are all we have. Those that hurt you and those that harm you and those that heal you and those that hug you and those that have you are all the same people. Everybody has touched somebody. And everybody has been touched by somebody. Each one hurt one. Each one heal one. Forgive, and move on.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
YEAR OF ACHING
What a difference a year can make Depending on the path you take The pillars you shake The bonds you break The demons or the angels you wake And the thirsts you slake. For whose or for what’s sake? For something real or for something fake? Some say the heart is a lake Beneath its surface there swims a snake Your happiness is at stake And yet all you seem to do is ache and ache. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
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
PATTERNS
One thing about life Patterns repeat themselves Next thing about life Patterns repeat themselves Another thing about life Patterns repeat themselves Until you break them. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TAKE IT EASY
Possibilities of joy are ruined by probabilities of sorrow Today will annoy the hell out of the peace of tomorrow Stay simple Don’t believe the hype A tiny ripple won’t burst your pipe if you don’t turn it into a big wave - Worry is deceptive, don’t be its slave. Be simple in expectation Be simple in perception Be simple in deliberation Be simple in expression. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE FINAL IMPRESSION
The last picture we have of a person determines what we continue to think about that person; and yet that person might have changed the very next day after the last time we saw them.
But for years and decades after that we continue to hold this picture and this opinion about the person.
And should our paths ever cross again we usually begin to relate again to that person and that opinion and that picture and that character that was the one we last experienced and remember.
So, we end up talking to a ghost and missing the real person right there in front of us.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 