The lonely journey Following your intuition Following your conviction Following your sensing Constantly needing someone But having no one To talk to. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
of Subtle Strokes
THE LIFE WITHIN
Allow love to conquer you Allow love to be your leader Allow love to reorder you Allow love to be your healer Let love break you Let love shake and wake you Let love take you Let love unmake and remake you When love enters, you’re in When love goes, you sin When love wins, you win Love is the life within. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE HURTING LOVE
The Love of God Will hurt you - Make no mistake about that - In order to cure you. Are you ready to grow? To reap what you sow? To be polished until you glow? To go with the flow Wherever God’s wind may blow? Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PAIN AND GAIN
Without the pain My life would have been so empty, My spirit’s real gain Are the lessons and they are plenty. It is really possible To lose a person and become whole, It is really possible To lose the world and gain your soul. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SHAME
Don’t be ashamed
Of your feeling of shame
For your ability to feel ashamed
Protects you from coming to shame.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
FINDING VALUE
Separate yourself from things In order to know the value of things Go deep into things In order to learn the true value in things Separate yourself from people In order to know the value of people Come close to, go deep into, people In order to see the true value in people Metamorphose away from yourself In order to know the value of yourself Develop again into your true self In order to feel the value in being yourself. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TO KILL A MAN
I‘ve died a thousand times And each time I’ve come back to life again If I die one more time Will I be able to survive this new pain? Something must break a man one day - Something he did say, or a game he did play, Or a woman that one day crosses his way. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SNIPPETS
Hard words are sometimes the kindest Foraging eyes are sometimes the blindest Life’s help is sometimes to put you to the test It pushes you to move when you long to rest I’ve never wanted something so badly before I’ve never eaten to my fill and still wanted some more I’ve never said goodbye and continued to feel so sore I’ve never been so trapped before in a folklore So many new things starting at the same time Be patient when you’re looking for the right rhyme Little doses of salt and pepper, curry and thyme Life is sometimes a little sugar, sometimes a little lime I love like Haily’s comet, ever and again I come again Laughter fills my heart again and conquers the pain I can’t explain it, I am a lake and I am the rain And so are you, and every end is just another refrain. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS THE LIGHT OF THE HEART
Love is a light It illumines the heart And makes it bright And it is light Like a winged cart Rising to the height Love is a chart It always goes right Right from the start Love is the highest art Love is the deepest light Of which Happiness is a part. Love is the light of the heart Love is the happiness of the heart Love is the strength of the heart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HEAVY WITH THE WEIGHT
The snow is red but not with envy Heavy with the weight of thought Waiting for the warmth of friendship Forgiveness and love and a drop Of sunlight to melt into the ground Going it looks ugly but it’s not Letting go of what you thought you’d found But, patience, the Earth will eat it all up. Are you snowing, are you falling Are you resting, are you thawing Are you meting, are you calling For companionship while you’re withdrawing? Slowly withdrawing… Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 