LOVE IS A PRISON

My only Crime was loving you
And loving you too much too
But If this is a crime
I’ve done my time
Release me
Ease me
Out
Tell me what it’s all about
An outer whisper, an inner shout
Free me from insecurity and doubt.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

PEOPLE’S SIGNALS

Pay attention to the signals
That people give you;
Take them seriously -
The signals won’t deceive you.

No one says everything;
They leave it to you
To figure it out if you’re smart
And paying attention too.

And above and beneath it all
Your own inner voice
Will analyse the signals and more
And make its own choice.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

I FEEL DEEPLY

I feel things very deeply
If only people knew
I climb or fall very steeply
Intuition is my cue
A trigger is enough for a crash
A crash is enough for a lifetime
A lifetime is not enough, it’s just a flash
Among many flashes on a timeline
Of deeper inner feelings
And deeper inner healings.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

RIGHT THINGS

Do the right things
And do the things right
Spread your light wings
And make your wings light
Whatever the flight brings
Inner buoyancy brings flight
Up into the bright rings
Where happiness rings bright.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ACHING

Deep inner feelings of love are possible
The love that causes the heart to ache is possible
The love you cannot forget is possible
The love that is stronger than you is possible
The love that changes you is possible 
You just have to meet the right person
To experience the incredible aching
With or without Heartbreaking.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FORGET IT

How humility can guide you
To find yourself if you let it -
How anger can ride you 
To death if you won’t forget it -

Forget it, it’s done and gone,
Your pain is the healing kind -
When you lost her, you won
A deeper heart, a higher mind.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HEARTS NEED TIME

The heart needs a long time
To understand that someone is gone.
Decades after the death bells chime,
The heart still waits for the loved one
To come back home.

The heart needs a long time
Because hearts are built for eternity.
Loving is more violent than crime,
You’ll be sentenced to immortality
As you wander and roam
Trying to come back home.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

MANY STORIES

You have enemies you don’t know,
They get to your friends behind your back.
Those friends whose friendship was hollow
Succumb to them and join in their attack.

You have friends you don’t know,
They‘re there for you when you need them most.
They fight your fight, share your sorrow,
Rejoice with you, sometimes invisibly like a ghost.

You are not and never alone,
You are a part of many stories and memories;
Your life is an enrichment of someone else’s own
And is enriched by others’ and their testimonies.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THAT KIND OF LOVE

How can someone
Love someone so much?
Is it possible? Once upon
A time there was such.

And betrayal couldn’t make the love go away,
It only opened a wound that would forever stay
And questions yearning to find answers some day.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TRUST IS THE MESSAGE OF TRUTH

One thing I know about life: you tell the truth to the person you truly love, to your soulmate. You feel enough trust and empathy, and you have the strong craving, to share the truth, the real naked truth, with them. People who are not able to tell you the truth are telling you that they don’t really have a deep place for you in their heart. This is a painful recognition to have, but a necessary one too. It helps you to protect yourself from deeper hurt and from new hurt in the future.

Trust is the message of Truth. As long as truthfulness is not coming from helplessness and desperation, then it is on the one hand a sign of respect, and on the other hand it is the ultimate admission of safety, intimacy and trust. You know the people you trust by the secrets you feel comfortable sharing with them. And you know the people who don’t trust you by the secrets they hold back from you. These are the people who are not close to you, no matter how close to you they seem to be. Veracity is the test – and the taste – of intimacy.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains