Of Transition

YEAR OF LIGHT

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

It began as a running thought
What I ought and ought not perhaps
Know, do or think

It began as a bowl of poems
But when the curtain lifted
I saw it was one poem.

This is the path of light
The curving straight line
Nothing is too far, nothing is too near
I shall get there.

Lovely are the snowflakes outside the
Airbus windows
Soon we shall rollbacktaxirunaway and
Take off –

And I shall remember the snow
And take along with me the love of friends
Into the new year.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE WANDERING GROUP

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

When you feel the thing
Most sought
The thing most loved
The thing most needed
The thing most sensed, most uncomprehended
The thing most yours
Approaching you…

Do not walk faster
Do not let over-excitement hurry you
Do not abandon your rhythmic pace
As you reach out to grab it
But just keep on moving
Steadily back Home.

We wander, we wander, we wander…
Everywhere we wander –
Never hurrying
Never worrying
Never tarrying
Ever merrying.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

NEIGHBOURS

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Do you hear that wailing?
Somebody is dead next door
Someone is left behind and weeping
Behind heaven’s closed door
Another earthlife is ended forevermore

Quietly I watch the lights of the siren
As they grow brighter in the distance
Soon they cover up my neighbour’s silent scream
Then all grows quiet for one instance
Death welcomes every circumstance

I know that couple next door
They never failed to say hello
Now one of them I will hear nevermore
But whenever I see the other’s sorrow
I will smile and say, gently, hello.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

CHANGING WAYS

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

And this a wanderer said to me
The mountains will awaken mountains in you
And the rivers will make a more thoughtful
Traveller of you.

The seasons will change you as frequently
As they change – and your new selves
Will not remember the person
You used to be.

And when you come back home again,
Sadness, quietness and joy will overcome you
And everything you left on the road
Will be as a dream.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

HIGH PRICE

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Is the price
Of life
Too high?
Experiences that break you
And rob you of the desire
To carry on living.

Is the price
Of knowledge
Too high?
Experiences that teach you things
Which in the end you wish
You never came to know.

If the price
Is this high
Then the prize
Had better be worth it
What ever it may be.

Some say it’s eternal life
Some say it’s finding yourself
But what do they know?
All these wiseacres
Just as lost as you are.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

DISAPPEARING

~ Che

That which is over
Feels like a dream
Even if it ended
Just yesterday

No matter how far in the past
No matter how far away
An unended story lies
It is with you here today

The heart is a miracle of chapters
Where pages grow blank
And as the days turn to nights and back
So life turns the pages of your heart.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

RIVER RIVER FLOWING HOME

~ Che ~ 2 Comments
image
Che and Kwame

I saw a departed soul
There
On the other side of the river
Yet there is no bridge
Across the river
So how did he get there?
How did he cross to the other
Side of the river

River, river, flowing home

Bathed in the mild glows of
The fields across
The river
Stood a soul
And he said, Brother
Goodbye…

River, river, flowing, going home.

– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.