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

DOING IS HARDER

Most of us are weak
Strong only in theory -
To reach the mountain-peak
Is easy in a paper story -
Never underestimate One week
It’s still Seven Days of weary
Struggle through prospects bleak
To attain the crown of glory.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HELP RHYME

Help comes in its own time
And in its own way
Often it prefers an irregular rhyme
Your tomorrow is its today
You hear the echo and miss the chime
How loudly did you pray?
Treasure the sour bitterness of lime
It is sweetness in delay.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

LAW OF THE L

Take your L
Take it well
No one can tell
Why you fell
Did your pride swell?
It rings a bell
It broke your shell
Take it well
I wish you well
Time will tell
And heal you well
Heaven and Hell
Understanding your L
Will break the spell
And make you well.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

*L stands for Loss.