PARTS OF WAYS

Ways part in part
And while parts of ways
Stay apart other parts
Remain inside the heart
Until the harmattan of days
Has cleared and the haze
Lifts and a new path starts.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

DISILLUSIONMENT

That moment comes and it suddenly clicks,
That someone you thought was close to you
Really does not know you. The mind played tricks -
Or was it the heart? - on both of you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

LOVERS AND OR FRIENDS

My friends are more important to me than my lovers. Lovers betray you, at some level, but friends stay loyal. True friends. The best lovers are also friends. The best friends don’t have to be lovers, don’t need to be lovers, to mean the world to you. Friendship beats everything else. There are some people you can be lovers with, but not friends. The moment the love affair ends, the friendship collapses, because it was inwardly empty. It was only sex, carnal comfort and perhaps some degree of emotional connection, but without reciprocal Depth. No sex is worth the best friendship. Nothing beats a person you share your truth with and the truth is safe with them, and they share their truth with you and it is safe with you. Share is the operational word. Safe is the magic word. It is safeness and trust. Respect, honesty and genuineness.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

JUST THE TWO OF US

If it’s just the two of us, let it be just the two of us. Don’t believe what anyone from outside tells you.

If I open myself to you then, believe me, nobody knows me better than you do.

Trust your heart and trust me. The exclusive magic at the core of our love will see us through.

But if you fail to bring up the courage to believe, or if you yield to outside influence, you damage our super glue.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

OF YOU

My Heart is full
Of you and the pull
Of you but of all
Of you not just a part
Of you from the start
Of you to the heart
Of you I hear the call
Of you in my heart.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

YOUR OWN

Don’t go after what you don’t desire,
And don’t go after what does not desire you.

Connect with your own and you will go higher -
Chasing the wrong one will drain and tire you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE WAY THE HEART LOVES

A quiet day
You were in my heart
And in my every thought
All day today

Just like yesterday
And the day before too
I’m still thinking of you
Quietly every day

This is the way
The heart loves genuinely
Noiselessly, unceasingly
Day by day.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

LOVE LIKE THE SUN

Like the sun rises every morning
So love blossoms again in the heart
After the night of agony and mourning
The heart will ache to make a new start

It might be an unfinished story
Rising from the depth to try again
Or a new love emerging in all its glory
Making the heart forget all its past pain

The edges blur, the points blunt
The longing subsides, the tears dry
New edges sharpen up a new front
New wings unfold straining to fly

For the heart wants to love badly
Because love is the life of the soul
Love gladly or love sadly or love madly
Love alone makes the spirit whole.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

BECOMING CIRCUMSPECT

A year passed by so quickly, like a whirlwind. The most important lesson I have learned: Value people who tell you the truth, for they are rare. Be sparing with your trust. And know that, unfortunately or fortunately, there is always something more to every story you hear. The exceptions to this rule are rare. So, become circumspect, even as you love harder. Because the harder you love, the deeper you go into the heart of truth and deception. The human heart is on earth to grow, and it grows only by intense and authentic experiencing of itself and of other hearts. So, open your heart to everything, but know this: “Everything” includes both the light and the dark, both the dependable and the treacherous, coming both from strangers as well as, even more so, from the people you trust.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains

RECALIBRATED

When you‘ve lost
What you love the most
You have nothing more to lose.

When what gives you strength
Leaves you
Then you have only yourself left to choose.

And your God. And seriousness.
No more half-bonds.
Whatever stays must really be your crew’s.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river