Of Maturing

EACH ONE HEAL ONE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

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

THE EARTH SCHOOL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
There are some people
Who just don’t deserve good people,
Yet good people will be meet them
Because they’re a part of the system;
There’s nothing you can do about that.

As long as you walk this earth,
You deserve every experience you get;
You signed up for it before birth
And now you have to run the gauntlet -
There’s nothing you can do about that.

Welcome to the school of maturing,
Of pain, temptation, of debt incurring -
But you CAN conquer after long enduring.
Now I don’t know if you find this reassuring,
But there’s nothing you can do about that.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SELF-CONTROL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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

~ Che ~ Leave a comment 
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