Sometimes it‘s just a word that’s missing At the right time and everything goes wrong Hurting sounds like hissing Caring sounds like dissing Whispering sounds like kissing And confirms what you knew all along. But someone will cross your path today Who needs a smile Someone crying for help will be in your way For a little while Just a word, a look, a smile, a friendly touch Will help them another mile. Share your night and your fright Share your might and your right Share your sight and your insight And share your plight and your flight Share your fight and your bite Share your height - and share your light. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Of Social Beings
HURT
Love hurts. Life hurts. People hurt. People hurt people. And hurt people hurt people. And when it hurts too much People begin to avoid the touch The inner touch Sometimes they permit the outer touch But only perfunctorily as such Because even it hurts too much. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HAPPILY
Happy wife, happy life. Happy Ex, happy Next. If you don’t want stress, Spread Happiness. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HUNGRY FOR HUMAN LOVE
The world is a buffet All you can meet Humanity at the venue All you can greet Kindness on the menu All you can treat Love and pain the entree All you can eat. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GREETINGS ALONG THE WAY
Every flight is a flight of fantasy Every journey is a journey of discovery Every departure is a departure from routine Every arrival is an arrival somewhere in between Every stranger is of a stranger kind Every meeting is a meeting of minds Every parting is a parting of the Red Sea Every greeting is… Wait! Greetings. The greetings Are the closest we’ll come to most humans. Put into them the earnestness of meetings - They are often our sole communions. With eyes, with words, with gestures, With a handshake or an embrace - Greetings in all their textures Help us to feel our human race. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
COME CLOSER
I don’t like to get too near to people Because it pushes me far away from them; When you get really close to the moon, You see a gloomy rock, not a glowing gem. Yet, courage!, wanderer, be bold of heart! One who will find must seek everywhere, Must brave the ugly to discover deep beauty At the core of the things we love and fear. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
CACOPHONY OF ABSENCE
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
IF YOU LISTEN
You know? If you listen to a Person talk You will see the person’s mind walk A thousand miles with each word Mountains they climb, rivers they ford A world will open up like a magic book The more you see the less you look The flowers blossom into new thoughts Don’t think too hard, just connect the dots You know? Just flow. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE POND
Your voice is in my heart
Although we’re farther apart
Than a mind can see, can scan,
Hearts with ease infinity will span
Between Earthlives and Beyond
Across universes spirits bond
Like lily leaves on a little pond.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
DON’T LOSE YOURSELF IN THE CROWD
Never join the crowd Let your silence be loud - Never yield to the crowd Let your humility be proud - The opinion of the crowd Is a blindfold, a shroud - We’re all parts of a crowd, But each with a spirit endowed. Don’t lose yourself in the crowd Because when you were allowed To come into being, you vowed To become an individual, unbowed. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 