Of Virtues

HE WAS A WEIGHTLIFTER

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

A monster of a man
World on his shoulders
Yet fragile is his heart
Go easy on him

He will lift world records
With muscle-rippling ease
But a heavy heart, a broken heart
Will weigh him down

His ego is no bigger than yours
And when he cuddles his little baby
His arms are just as gentle
Trembling hands, subtle fingers

He was a weightlifter
Now he’s down, leaden of heart –
Who will be the one to
Stroke his head and gently lift him up?

He is light as a feather if you ease his pain
Easy like a Sunday morning
Will melt in your hands like butter
Fly with you to the midnight moon, effortlessly.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Elementary particles
You and I
And our every thought of kindness
Wrapped up in temporary blindness
The thought will go
But the kindness in its heart will remain timeless.

Thousands of years later
Geologists can tell you where
A river once flowed.
Such is the parable of human hearts
And the tracks of our tears
And the marks we leave in each others’ lives.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

MOVEMENT

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

They will pull you back
They are afraid of…
Anything that moves!

Long shackled pain and fear
Madden the mind
Time stands still

The tempted, fallen, becomes
The tempter
Learn to recognize them

The source of your pain
The source of your freedom
Movement!

  • Che Chidi Chukwumerije..

KINDNESS BEYOND POETRY

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Be kind to people
Let kindness be your all, your strength, your gift
Your highest art-form, beyond craft
For you are human

Kindness is life
Kindness is the root of eternity smile
Kindness can move mountains
Can conquer pain
Gives us comfort in our hour of desolation
Kind eyes keep the heart alive

Kindness conquered me
Let kindness conquer you too
Become a servant of kindness
Become a master of hearts.

The naïve are not always naïve
Sometimes they are simply grateful to kindness
For kindness shown and kindness received
And now they too are passing kindness on to others
For one who has been saved by kindness
Will serve kindness evermore

Nothing sets a human heart free
Like the heartbeats of kindness deep within
Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s easy
Sometimes you forget, sometimes you remember

And in the moment of your death
It will be your acts of Unkindness that haunt you
And make you long for another life, another chance…

And it will be your acts of kindness
And the acts of kindness shown to you
That comfort you, give you hope
And show you the way into life after death

You are not alone.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

STRONG AND STRONGER

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

What yesterday I pushed away
Returns today, stronger
With even more hunger
Songs that I must play.

I have to move
Fly like a dove
Driven by love

I have to remove
Myself from illusion
Confusion.

Unfinished Verses stare at me
Repeated Verses endlessly.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

LOVE THOSE YOU HAVE TODAY

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

So, your enemy
Disguised as a friend
Separated you from
Your real friend, in the end.

Well, it’s all good, it’s all good
Wear not regret as a crown of thorns
Love those you have today.

What use is the morning’s advice
If you understand it only in the evening,
When it’s too late
You think?
The day is already gone

Well, it’s all good, it’s all good
Love the night too
The moon is a growing sun.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

CLEAR SIGHT

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

What is this haze?
My mind becomes a maze
My feet remember their ways
By memory always –

The things we learned by heart
Shall be the surest chart
In our last days

The Adult becomes a child anew
And sees what the child once saw in the morning Dew.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

MAKING MUSIC

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

This guitar I remember
Was once a part of my life
A most tender member
A most precious joint
The soil of the start
The point of the matter
The giver of self, she gave herself up…

This guitar I remember.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

RETURN TO RECOGNITION

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Years pass
And all you do
Is return to the same
Recognition –

All the searching and adventuring
And experiencing and reflecting
Have only taken you
In a circle back to the Recognition
You acquired
The first time you were good…

There’s really only one way of doing it aright
Morally…
And you’ll have to come back to it
One day.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE

~ Che ~ 6 Comments

What do I write when
In truth I feel so insecure
Plagued by a thousand doubts and a thousand thoughts
Of things unanswered yet…

Ah! My mind is so terribly sharp! It cuts me everyday
Deep incisions of distrust and indecision –
Yet, out of them I grow…

There is a world of unanswered questions
A gap, in the middle of two stories
This gap is filled with our memories and dreams
A little part only of which we see… –

A Plague, a terrible plague
The restiveness of the human mind
It rages over the earth, devouring in numbers…
People fall victim, die in numbers –

A few survive, who live to tell the tale
Which the others shall call the masterpiece…

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.