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
Of Transition
DRAW YOUR SECOND BREATH
When I first came to Germany, I died, slowly and gradually. And - this is the worst part - I died alone, inside my heart. Some might say it is a death Akin to the planted seed That dissolves inside the earth En route to being freed; Freed from the past and the old - The path to growth into the new. But death is empty, dark, cold. And lonely. I never knew. There is a path that leads back to life; Beware - it is more painful than death And it too with loneliness is rife From which will emerge your second breath. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MEMORYLESS TRAVEL
You have to get there to remember.
On the way there you will forget
Where you are going to
And why.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
ALERTNESS
Be present
In the moment
Or when your moment comes
You will be absent
In it.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
JOYFUL ACTIVITY
There’s a reason why it’s called Eternal Life,
Not perpetual snooze or eternal sleep.
Stop saying “rest in peace”
to those who have left the earth for the afterlife.
Wish them instead a safe journey
And Joyful luminous activity
For all eternity.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
#poemsthatmakeyouthink
LIFE GOES ON
The departed are not dead
They do not rest in peace
If they rest, they have no peace
If they have peace, they‘re not at rest.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
#poemsthatmakeyouthink
BOYS TO MEN
The older I get,
The more I miss my father.
The more knowing I grow,
The more I miss him.
The more I know him.
The more I understand him.
We live life forwards,
But understand life backwards.
When it‘s too late to change anything,
That’s when we understand everything.
The young shall grow.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
(I just feel like remembering today)
FOREVER IS A LAND OF GOODBYES
One of the most beautiful things
I have found
Is to be able to let go of the past
And move on –
But never forget the past.
I love every pain
Every joy
Every regret and remorse
Every parting and every loss
Every victory and every memory
For by the very act of going
They left something with me
That will live in me forever…
Forever is a land of goodbyes
And new beginnings.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
SPREAD MY WINGS
When they tempt me
I won’t lie
When they hurt me
I won’t cry
When they free me
I won’t fly
And when they kill me
I won’t die
But will simply continue with my roam
Until I see what of my dream has become
And then I will smile, spread my wings and fly away home.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
LIFE COMES IN CHAPTERS
Kidnapped
Is there still hope for me?
The sun sets sadly as slowly as he can
By the last light of day
Find a way
Did you see the baby that was stolen?
Did you see the boy that was broken?
However hard you look, you will see
No resemblance at all between them and
The man now woken, now walking.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 