You have to wait a little while to really Get to know people’s character truly If you let them unfold themselves freely Around you they will unravel duly - Yes, they will start with a façade first ideally But the heart, the heart, the heart is unruly It will break rank and show itself verily Eventually, for patience grinds masks cruelly To submission. Truth emerges voluntarily. Not every friend is a friend Not every enemy is an enemy But sometimes you have to wait till the end To recognise each person clearly. Unfortunately by then it might be too late To correct what happened at the gate. You let the wrong person in And kept the wrong person out - O voice within, o voice within, o voice within, Help me to accurately check people out. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Self
BEWARE OF ECHO CHAMBERS
Beware of echo chambers. People who speak your thoughts Will soothe your loneliness But won’t show you your blind spots. Listen also to those people Who see you completely differently From how you see yourself. Completion seems sometimes unfriendly. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GO YOUR WAY
Don‘t take everything
That comes your way
For the way has everything
The way will make you lose your way
If you believe everything
And take everything
That the way brings your way
Learn to look away
From the way
When the way
Is not going your way
Know the way
And know your way
And know the difference.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
WAY BACK HOME
Don‘t mourn me when I die Wave me goodbye I will be going home If I miss my way home Then I will come Back again to retry. So don’t mourn me when I die I did not come to stay I came here to find my way Back Home. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
NATIVE TO YOU
God’s World is not foreign It is indigenous After you’ve finished touring You return to us God’s Law is not complex It is very simple Needs no super intelligence To do the needful God’s Love is not exotic It is native Homeliness is romantic Non-invasive You are not an alien In God’s eyes Be at peace with yourself And you will rise. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
CHOOSE WISELY
Don‘t waste your time with time-wasters Who pull you in, retain and detain you: Enjoy your wine instead with wine-tasters, Those who want, understand and value you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HOW ARE YOU?
How are you? “I’m fine” is how you feel, It is not how you are. So, How ARE you? For real. Are you kind? Are you truthful? Are you vain? Are you boastful? Are you brave? Are you useful? Are you despondent or hopeful? What kind of person are you? Are you dependable in times of danger, or greed? What character type are you? Are you a traitor in times of chance and need? Are you led solely by your intellect? Or do you listen to your intuition? HOW are you? Don’t make-pretend. Your nature is your true condition. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
IT TAKES A NEIGHBOURHOOD
I like them both The two sides of Black The one that is woke And the one that looks back I like both of them The two sides of Black The one full of flame And the one that’s laid back I like the Black that plays I like the Black that fights I like the Black that prays I like the Black that delights I like the Black that segregates I like the Black that integrates I like the Black that separates I like the Black that tolerates It’s all Black and it’s all good It takes a village and a neighbourhood. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SELF-MADE
At the end I‘ll be happy with myself For healing myself by denying myself. This is the mystery of the Self That liberates itself by controlling itself And binds itself by indulging itself, Because whatever becomes of yourself You did it to yourself. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 