For whom shall I write now? For whom shall I fight now? Who shall shine the light now That illuminates my heart? Lovers don’t turn into friends, They turn into strangers. Life the gardener tends Both safeties and dangers. But when November ends, December births mangers And shines new light to my heart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of pain
LITTLE STEPS
Healing takes place in small steps;
Pause and breathe a little, it helps.
Be thankful for the experience to grow,
There is still so much you don’t yet know.
Wise words don’t stop the pain, I know;
Hang in there, son, just go with the flow.
Things that don’t want to stay, let them go –
Accept that the absence of yes truly is no.
And look how far you’ve come,
See how different and clear you’ve become.
The thing that kills one part of you,
Awakens and strengthens the new you too.
But when you eventually get up and go,
Don’t look back, son, shut that window.
Little drops a mighty ocean do make;
Little steps you a long way shall take.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
VANISHING
Don’t come back after I’ve got used to your absence
Your absence has become your strongest presence
If you return too late you’ll only find yourself gone
Replaced by memory, you’ll be the invisible one.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS REAL
Love is real And rare And it’s a big deal In here Where we feel And care And hurt and heal And share. To steal the heart Is to seal the heart And throw the key away Forever minus a day. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE HURTS
If love hasn’t driven you mad Then you’ve never felt love before If love hasn’t made you unbearably sad Then love has not yet pierced your core If love hasn’t tested the line you had Between the good and the bad and fundamentally changed you forevermore, Then yours isn’t love, just a lore. And the most astounding part Is the dull ache somewhere in your heart and the cold ashes that remain when you walk down memory lane. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
NO OTHERS
I stopped wanting others After I met you - And I still don’t want any others Even after I’ve lost you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WRONG IS SOMETIMES RIGHT
The right one will come When your education is done. Until then every wrong one Is the right one so you can become The right one When your transformation Is done. Wrong is sometimes right Because it’s what you need right now Some people’s day is the night That’s when they can work and plough Blindness strengthens inner sight You intuit your way through things somehow And a bark is just as useful as a bite. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LONG FALL
The thing which if kissed will bring you the wildest happiness Is the thing which if missed will bring you the deepest sadness The higher you did fly The longer you will fall down Until you hit the ground And instantaneously die. It is not the final impact that hurts but the long excruciatingly long fall unable to reverse or arrest or accelerate the moment that will end it all. A time of remembering A time of regretting A time of wishful extrapolating And never forgetting. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MOVE!
Move! You have to move! Always you have to move move move! Change change change! Move And move again and again Keep moving keep changing your lane Joy and pain sunshine and rain playing and praying And always adjusting and recalibrating And moving and moving and moving And constantly growing and improving. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WALKING AND TALKING
Walking myself Through the corridors of dull greyness Talking to myself Until I become free of all my bitterness For it doesn’t matter who has hurt me I am nothing special I have hurt many too, irreparably, deeply, With this my heart must wrestle. Walking and whistling Talking and thinking Of what I’m receiving Whenever I’m grieving Spiritual resetting Not ever forgetting Destiny re-weaving Deep inner perceiving. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 