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
Of Virtues
TRUST IS
Trust is a thread
Is an earthenware pot
Is a glass cup
Do not break it.
Sow with it a garment of protection
Cook in it a meal of spiritual nutrition
Drink from it the water of eternal affection
And never break it.
It is hard to remake it.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
WE EXPECT MORE FROM SEX
We expect more from sex than it can give. And when it fails to give it, we take more and more and more of it, demanding with even more intensity and urgency from it that which it is unable to give. Unable to give because, no matter how deep and intimate it is, in the end it’s still just sex. It can never fulfil your soul. And the real you, the human spirit, is in the soul. There is a depth of unhappiness that it cannot fill, a height of joy it cannot reach. There is a fineness and exactness of intimate connection which sex can only crudely attempt to approximate without being able to fill the gaps.
The gaps that sincerity can fill; the gaps that honesty can bridge; the gaps that integrity can close; the gaps that trust can repair; the gaps that homogeneity can make disappear; the gaps that reliability can heal; the gaps that a shared Ideal and a common goal can plug; the gaps that working together can eliminate; the gaps that intimate truthful conversations can undo; the gaps that a harmonisation of thinking and intuiting can cure. All the gaps that the best sex in the world cannot fill. No matter how often and creatively we try to find the fulfilment therein.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
SELF-RESTRAINT
Just because it’s available Doesn’t mean you should take it; Just because it’s achievable Doesn’t mean you should make it; Just because it’s vulnerable Doesn’t mean you should break it; Just because it’s uncomfortable Doesn’t mean you should fake it; Just because it’s unshakeable Doesn’t mean you should shake it; Just because it’s accessible Doesn’t mean you should wake it; Just because it’s expendable Doesn’t mean you should stake it; Just because it’s edible Doesn’t mean you should bake it. Some things you just leave as they are. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOUR SELF-WORTH: AN ETERNAL AND PERPETUAL SUNRISE WITHIN YOU
Your self-worth does not depend on another person’s acceptance of you or love for you. It is your own personal fundamental imprint upon Creation, your contribution to the flowering of the universe, your service to God. It is the authenticity with which you do everything you do; it is the truthfulness you manifest in all your dealings; it is the joy you bear within you inspite of all the reversals and disappointments you may experience; it is your loyalty to goodness above all things; it is your claiming of your right to dare and to fail without being mocked; and it is your claiming of your right to succeed.
It is your humility when you boldly lead and your dignity when you faithfully follow; it is your free will; it is your ability to love yourself and to love others; it is your honesty to yourself when you have erred; it is self-correction and self-motivation; it is your sense of principles; it is the love you give back to those who love you; but it is also your freedom from the chains of those who love you; and yet it is also your duty of truthfulness and dignity to those with whom you share a bond of trust; it is your obligation to your promises and the way you stand up to them; it is the firmness with which you resist evil; it is the severity with which you tell yourself the truth after you have yielded to wrongness.
It is your sense of humanness, your consciousness of being someone; it is your fighting spirit, your refusal to die spiritually or emotionally; it is the eternal and perpetual Sunrise which you carry within you; it does not require another person to be sad in order for you to be happy; it does not require others to be a nobody in order for you to be a somebody; it is your sensing and seeking and going of your own path, without unjustly intruding on others’ paths and free will; it is all this and more. But it definitely does not depend on the love or acceptance you receive from anybody else. It stands by itself, an integral part of you. It is You.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
SOMEONE THAT LOVES YOU
To have someone that loves you, Really loves you, is the most beautiful thing, The most special thing, that can happen to you - Nothing can describe it, not even a ring. It is a special gift from God reaching you Through the agency of another human’s devotion - Devotion to you, surrender to you, Service to you, support of you, Love for you, care towards you, Honesty with you, dedication to you, Joyful natural voluntary sacrifice to and for you, Giving you dignity and protection And bringing you elevation and elation. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE VAST DISTANCE
The deepest form of intimacy is the sharing of truth. Sex is not the highest form of intimacy - Honesty is. No sleuth can penetrate a false heart of lies. No compass can navigate the vast distance opened up by lies that keeps hearts separate. This distance cannot be closed by vicinity - This distance can only be closed by veracity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THROUGH HONESTY
Don’t be ashamed Pour it all out The heart is tamed and freed from doubt by the bravery of honesty. Let those that hurt you continue to mock you It still cannot stop you from healing through honesty and growing through adversity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MAY YOU
May you grow Like the flowers you love so much May you sow Seeds of fruits that nourish as such May you glow Under the purity of a true lover’s touch May you know Honesty to which you can safely clutch. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WITHOUT A TRACE
There was once a person I once knew her for a short while I don’t know what happened to her Or who she became or what lifestyle I have no idea where she is now I never discovered where she went to Or who she mixed herself up with, if any If she still exists, what she’s going through But she made my heart childlike Before she suddenly disappeared Without a trace - I pray to God, Who knows it all, To always be with her wherever she is And give her protection, progress and peace And guide her to a beautiful place Full of flowers, true love, honesty and bliss. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 