The smiles of strangers along the way; Eyes that touch with a friendly look briefly - Just a few of these silent greetings a day Change the feel of the city, lighten it greatly. And they are there, just enough of humanity; Partake in it, for life is rushing by so quickly. Joy-givers are preservers of human dignity. Every day is a gift. Use it wisely. Be happy. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Self
YOUR LADDER OF POEMS
A poem at a time Gradually I climb Out of my well of wishes Out of my well of clichés Out of my well of unbeing Into my wellbeing. Don’t let the machine write your mind Think for yourself or you’ll grow blind What you seek is what you’ll find - Moving on, don’t leave your true self behind. AI might be the future’s tool - But stay human and don’t be its fool. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BE WHO YOU ARE
It does not matter who your father is,
Or was. It only matters who you are;
Throw off the reputational burden of his
Life, whether a nobody, a crook or a star.
It does not matter who your mother is,
Was, or will be. You have your own destiny.
Be firm in rejecting her spirit’s liabilities,
Nor bask in her glory. Write your own story.
Never ever allow family to be your bondage.
If wealth is not health, detach and go higher.
The chains of name, blood, and heritage
Are human assumptions, not God’s desire.
God wants each unique creature to be true,
So experience and enrich the world as You.
Free your children too from the Obligation to
Follow, serve, help, complete or redeem you.
If your story happens to be your family’s too,
Then so be it, that’s who you genuinely are.
But if your story is totally different and new,
Don’t feel guilty; accept and be who you are.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
SONG OF RENEWAL
Once you burst the bubble, Spare yourself the trouble; Nothing that you do can ever bring it back again. The bubble had its season, The bursting had its reason; Their veracity’s value Is not diminished by your pain. The past looks real but isn’t, The gift is in the present; It makes you transform You - The only goal you can truly attain. Metamorphosis is life’s pleasure, It’s a treasure beyond measure; It makes you constantly renew Your focus on your spiritual lane. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DON’T SURRENDER IT ALL TO AI
The primary aim of artistic expression is inner clarification of self, as well as personal spiritual development. The secondary aim is communication and sharing of ideas, which in any case always happens automatically as a by-product.
If you outsource all your artistic creativity to Artificial Intelligence, then, yes, finished works of a certain mould will be generated, but your spirit will not grow. And the purpose of your earthlife – the very purpose of life itself – will not be fulfilled. This lies alone in the continuous development of your “I” through self-exertion, self-clarification and the constant effort towards pure and accurate self-expression of intuition via thought into word and deed.
AI will produce works that resemble beauty, but will lead to the atrophy and death of the human spirit – unless you critically interrogate those works and then correct, reject or surmount them with your own personal effort, your own intuiting and reasoning. Don’t surrender to AI. Learn it but remain above it. Artificial Intelligence will make you look good, make you feel good, but only you can become better by yourself, by your own effort. The ancient rule is still the same, there is no short cut to success.
It is very imperative, in this era of artificial intelligence, for each person to remain personally creative, as well as spiritually and intellectually active and independent. Make the effort to think your own thoughts through to the end, and formulate and write them down by yourself. Compose, rehearse and record your own music. Make your own art. Draw the inspiration not just from others, but also, like before, from within the fathomless depths of your immortal spirit. Spend time in the silence of your heart, listening to your inner voice, hearing yourself by yourself and not from the programmed algorithm of an AI companion’s voice.
And also continue to do as many things with your hands as possible. Build. Make. Write. Go out into the world. Use your physical muscles, use your brain muscles, use your heart muscles, use your soul and use your spirit. And also, PATRONISE THOSE WHO DO SO, THOSE WHO STILL PRODUCE BY THE EFFORT OF HUMAN CREATIVITY. When you do this, you are not doing them a favour, but you are doing yourself and humanity and our future a SERVICE!
This is the only way they will grow. This is the only way we will grow. This is how we survived as a species over millions of years. This is how we got here. By the agency of Natural personal Human Intelligence. WE have always been the ones evolving, the ones plumbing our own depths, the ones developing. Thus: Woe betide us today if we now, tempted by convenience, hand that task now over to a self-programming and self-learning artificial algorithm we fashioned. Like the Zauberlehrling who can no longer deactivate or control the witchcraft he awakened. We would thereby have marked the beginning of the end of the story of the human spirit on Earth.
We are the generation that must tame the beast we have created, and ensure that it remains a servant and never becomes the cold lifeless master of our destiny, literally and figuratively. AI is wonderful for sourcing and collating information, and sorting and delivering it coherently. It is also marvellous at generating alternative versions of expressive output. But it cannot see the light. It cannot produce that individual unique recognition that can only come from deep within you. And it cannot produce the NEW, a truly new and different future. It can only regurgitate and re-permutate the past.
The production of Newness is still the purview and the task of the living and active human spirit. Let AI not be our last invention. Let us continue to bestir ourselves to intuit, imagine, innovate and invent even greater creations in the future, greater and higher than AI, and which also come from us – or through us. For WE are human spirit.
Retain your primary art-form in your hands. Don’t outsource it in the name of comfort, or vanity, or convenience, or competition, or materialism. Save and continue to develop that which is most valuable to us – our spirit. Let art, intuition and inspired thinking continue to be tools for personal inner growth through the joy of effort.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
OPEN
I am a very open person If you come into my life I will open up to you But I will open you up too If you are not ready to be open Don’t come into my life Because I will naked you And get to the core of You What we see when we get there We might not like But we will understand and trust each other From that moment onwards Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SPEAK YOUR MIND
You need to speak your mind Or you will not be free It will eat you up inside and grind Away at your sanity. Say what you really believe Articulate what you really want Your Inner piece shall grant you reprieve When people’s reaction be blunt. Truth is better than art Honesty shines brighter than beauty Your inner voice wants to chart A path to peace of mind and to Liberty. Speak your mind before you die. If your heart moves your mind spiritually Speak your mind unless you’ll die Literally and figuratively. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE JOURNEY OF YOUR “I”
The miracle of life transcends the earth. The adventures of the “I” Survive many an earthly death and rebirth And a “Beyond” not in the Sky But right here beside you And much too often beneath you. Your Journey is shaping the Real you. This is really the purpose of it all - Not the Earthly but the Spiritual, the true inner personality, you the actual person, you, you, you! Eternity requires integrity, and self-conquest is our path thereto in the struggle with the Material. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE BOUNDARY OF SELF
It‘s Hard to escape the gravity of the Earth It’s Hard to outgrow the culture of your birth It’s Hard for the tide to exceed its continental shelf It’s Hard to see beyond the boundary of yourself. The more you see, the more you see you The farther you go, the farther YOU go The more you do, the more you do you You reap You because that’s what you sow It’s Impossible to get from a thing more than it’s worth It’s Impossible to go further north than the north It’s Impossible for the earthly eye to see an Elf It’s Impossible to grasp beyond the boundary of yourself The more you overcome you the more you become you Until in the end you are all you know The more you wander, the more you understand you Because in the end you are all you really can ever know. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
FIGHTING AS YOURSELF
You fight by being yourself You lose by losing yourself You win by remaining yourself Improving yourself, perfecting yourself As yourself Your deepest and highest and purest self. When you‘re not good enough for someone Don’t respond by becoming someone else Stay quietly yourself, your authentic self - When you’re too good to be true in someone’s view Don’t adjust and lower yourself to their comfort level Stay proudly yourself, your honest self - Just strive to be the best version of yourself. You can only attract those in tune with yourself When you show yourself - And if they are few and far between It’s still worth is. The loneliness is mean Crushing and worse when you’re not yourself. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 