Of Virtues

HAPPINESS, HONESTY AND IMPERFECTION

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

They said, you’re silent, and when you speak, you don’t speak of the things we know you know, the things you once spoke about. You don’t preach, you don’t teach, you don’t educate, elucidate or inform.

I said I have seen it all and it’s all an illusion. Never follow high-sounding words; they always hide a lie somewhere. All I want is just to be happy.

And I said, keep searching and searching until you find the hypocrite within you; and when you have looked each other in the eye, you will learn to recognize him or her also in the people, the words and the works around you. It’s very easy to be deep and profound. It’s much more difficult to be honestly imperfect.

If you want to be happy, you can’t skip the first step. It is also the last step: honest imperfection. Leave the wise words to the teachers. You, just be happy. That’s the only thing left that I still honestly care about. The rest is just a waste of precious time at best, deception of self and others at worst.

A funny thing happened: this morning I heard a saxophone playing and it gave me more than all the wise moving words in this world ever could or did. It sang the melody of all my sins, all my hopes, all my regrets, all my joys, all the humanity within me; and in the end I knew, it is true: the inner voice is the real you.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

BEHIND YOUR MIND

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Insight awakens
What hope is there for Sight?
No matter what your eyes see outwardly
Your heart insists on knowing better inwardly
Proof is intellectual
Knowledge perceptual
A Dream will insist
Reality is the dreamy Mist.

Vision takes over
You become a tool of its mission
Lose your power of decision
In matters beyond the mind
There the mind is blind –
Your Vision does for you the Seeing
Makes of you a true human being
The mind sees the light
Bows to the inner power of Insight.

You search for words to speak your mind
Your strange heart is all you’ll find.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

KNOWLEDGE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Conscience = con science = with knowledge

In your conscience
You know
The difference between
Right and wrong.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

COME BACK HOME

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Diamonds and pearls
Gold, frankincense and myrrh
Silver and jewels
Precious stones, rubies, crystals
Treasures…

Beauty is a thing of the Spirit
It reminds the spirit of its home
And gives it the incentive
To come back home.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

GENTLE STRENGTH

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Like water, going…
Like air, there, everywhere…
Gentle strength
Will slowly overcome
And overtake
You
Just when you think that
You have conquered…

Like love, forever…
Like trust, silently growing…
Gentle strength
Will finally become a part
Of you
Your greatest asset
Just when you think that
You have been conquered…

Though they hit you
And hit you again and again
Yet they lose always
Because love is the strongest force of all.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

OF THE HEART

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

“No war, no peace,” says the warrior, wielder of the sword.
“No justice, no peace,” says the philosopher, wielder of the pen.
“No forgiveness, no peace,” says the lover, wielder of the heart.

“No negotiation, no peace,” says the politician, wielder of diplomacy.
“No prayer, no peace,” says the priest, wielder of religion.
“No forgiveness, no peace,” says the lover, wielder of the heart.

“No invention, no peace,” says the scientist, wielder of formulae.
“No knowledge, no peace,” says the scholar, wielder of intellect.
“No forgiveness, no peace,” says the lover, wielder of the heart.

“No amnesia, no peace,” says the coward, wielder of excuses.
“No memory, no peace,” says the historian, wielder of records.
“No forgiveness, no peace,” says the lover, wielder of the heart.

“No pretence, no peace,” says the actor, wielder of theatrics.
“No harmony, no peace,” says the musician, wielder of song.
“No reflection, no peace,” says the artist, wielder of images.

“No forgiveness, no peace,” says the lover, wielder of the heart.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

HEART OF LIGHT

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

There is gold
In your blood
Blue in you
And best of all
When you say How do you do
You mean it too –

Your gold I want not
Your blueblood I wish I could wash out
For it would only be a burden –
But you make me lighter
Each time I see how the people’s eyes shine brighter
When you enter the room.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

DISREGARDING YOURSELF

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Do you fear yourself?
Or are you in awe,
In awe of you?
Or do you think yourself
But little and poor
And powerless too?

Think not of yourself
But of your goals
And deepest dreams…
And you will find yourself
Fulfilling even roles
Beyond whole teams.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE CHAMBER WITHIN

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

The head can forget what it vowed to remember
But the heart remembers even that
Which it vowed to forever forget.

A memory which you want to keep forever
Store in the intuitive base of your heart
The head is curious but sometimes too clever –
Less meddlesome is the heart.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

IF THERE BE

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If there be a she
Where is she?
If there was a she
Where was she?

If there be a he
Which is he?
If there was a he
When was he?

If there be a we
What are we?
If there was a we
Wherefore were we?

If there be an I
Why am I?

If there is goodness in the human race
If there is love in the human heart
If there is hope in the human being
Why are we still not there
Where we once were
When we had goodness and love and hope
In our hearts
On our tongues
And as the work of our hands…?

If I have a friend
Please help me.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.