Open slowly
Don’t show it all
Too fast –
Pause… a little more… pause… a little more
Draw a little breath
Every change is death
And rebirth –
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Of Nature and Natural Laws
THE BALLAD OF A POET’S FATE
“Why doth thy finger tremble so,
O Poet, what hast thou done?
Why doth thy finger tremble so,
O Poet, what hast thou done?“
“I’ve journeyed through three human hearts
And written what I saw
I’ve voyaged into hidden parts
Unknown to me before!”
“But human hearts are fragile strung,
So why art thou so shocked?
Said human hearts are fragile strung
Why then dost thou look shocked?”
“The sun is distant, but the heat
It give scarce can be borne…
From farther yet do men’s hearts beat,
More scorching too, their scorn!”
“Wilt thou then walk away from Fate,
O Poet, wilt thou do so?
Wilt thou abandon now thy Fate,
O Poet, to flee thee woe?”
“Atlantis sunk, the Incas died,
The Pharaohs turned to sand,
But poetry outlives time and tide
And Poets will guide the land.”
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
A DEEP AWESOME SILENT MOON
This night’s moon
Is wet and red
Pensive, heavy
Soaked in a silent mystery
And a bloody cry as of hunting wolves
Unheard of and staining
The blue-black canvas of the tree-dotted nightscape
She struggles
This fascinating moon
To lift herself above the palms
And jab
Our consciousness
With wishes from the embers
Of the invisible weavings of life
The faithfulness
Of the ever-returning moon…
Soon the tree-tops
Who now stare levelly at the moon
Will also have to raise their eyes up
If they want to see
Her face…
O lovely awesome red moon
Rising above the palm trees
Ascending again
Sink like the silence of peace
Deep into my breast.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
PRAYER AT DAWN
A slice of moon for breakfast
A dotted star and tea
A blue-grey sky that will not last
For soon the sun will be
The slice of moon is smiling
And as it smiles it fades
The words are dilly-dallying
And my pen hesitates
By what premise did I now
Presume myself a man
And yet I promise, nay I vow
To serve the Son of Man
The slice of moon has disappeared
Did I just say a prayer?
I long to touch lives, that be shared
The music in my ear.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 