When someone asks for time and space
Give it to them
They are not necessarily running away from you
They might really just need time and space
To come to terms with the fact of you.
And if they are running away from you
Then there’s no need to want them close to you.
It’s not an insult or an attack
It’s just a chance to find true happiness for both of you
Each in their own way, own time and own space.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
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
A part of me still wants to show you Every little flower that crosses my lane Share with you every story and review That get’s thrown up by my algorithm Tell you all the things that cross my mind Numberless times all through the day Reveal my plans and ask you if you also find Them as interesting as they seem to me Ask you how you are, where you are, Who you’re with, what you’re doing there Where it is, if it’s near or if it’s far How long you’ve been and will be there… But then another part of me reminds me That you are gone and gone for good And I lock my conversations back inside me Because I’m getting used to this solitude. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
By the time you’re ready for me I’ll be ready for me too I’ll no longer need you to Complete me and hold steady for me. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
That deep moment When the grass is calm The gale is spent Nature is bent On being your heart’s balm A busy butterfly Like a restless thought Flutters by Waving hi and goodbye Forget me not Forget me not. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
You can come as close to me as you want You still cannot get in. You can go as deep into me as you want But still deep within My heart there is a door And if you’re not the one it’s meant for You can’t get in. You can go as far away from me as possible You still remain inside me I can push you as far away from me as possible But still deep inside me There is one tender space And you alone live inside this place That is the home in me. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
You know, when you do not Want to stop missing a person, but… One morning you rise and go through the day and only In the evening do you realise That today you forgot to be lonely And in that moment when you remember That person, you wait for the familiar pain… But as sure as August breaks into September The ache is gone, you’ll never feel it again. You know, when you do Not Want to stop missing a person… Because missing that person Is the only thing you’ve still got - But… One day even that leaves you too. Yes, even you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
There is a cacophony of crowd That is calming to the soul Happy humanity buoyantly loud Making its empty parts whole When lungs are full of hearts And hearts are crowded with mirth And mirth is the song that charts The path that longed for our birth But even in the loudest throng I hear your silence echoing A dull throbbing of something wrong The wind of strange bellowing And where the multitudes gather There I see your absence clearly In the throes of the happiest banter I quietly miss you dearly. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
The loudest silence
Is two people alone in a room
Or in a relationship
But not knowing with whom
They are each talking
So they talk louder, hoping for an echo
And then they stop talking
For there is no answer to a broken Hello.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Every new thing you meet Is an old thing to someone else What to you is a new beat Others have rocked from ever since Your new love is someone’s old flame Burning low but burning still Because people stay the same Captive to their former thrill Battles you assumed were done Suddenly resurface demanding review Friends you thought were long gone Suddenly come again to protect you Nothing you meet is new It is old to someone and to itself It might even be old to you But you simply don’t realise it yet. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 