Do you see me, I don’t see me. Do you see you, I don’t see you. Do you see us, I don’t see us. Do you see them, I don’t see them. But do you see it, I see it. It is all I see. The objective, the goal The constructive’s soul. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
On General Philosophy
CHANGING CLOTHES
People are like clothes Sometimes we change them Personalities are like clothes Sometimes we change them Consciousnesses are like clothes Sometimes we change them Places are like clothes Sometimes we change them Inwardly and outwardly For similar reasons And in between changing them We are naked. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE, LOYALTY AND HONESTY
True love is given automatically
Irresistibly and totally
Without being demanded extraordinarily
Or exclusively.
Loyalty is given freely
Happily, personally and genuinely
Without being prompted forcefully
Or granted guiltily.
Only honesty is voluntary
It’s a choice, it’s not arbitrary
You decide deliberately in the sanctuary
Of your heart to be honest or to the contrary.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
GRASPING
Why don’t people recognise a great thing And just take it when it comes their way? Without hesitation, without doubting The magic, just join in the game and play? Maybe because it does not always Come in the form we expect and want - Because God’s Ways are not our ways, Our intellect is sharp but our intuition is blunt. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
(NOT) YOURS
When it’s no longer yours It doesn’t hurt if someone else has it, It only hurts as long as it’s still yours And someone else has it. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
CHOOSE
The Person I choose Has to choose me too In order for me to choose them There is no us without you Only me. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
RELATIONSHIP WITH REALITY
All I can tell you is this, Never entertain liars in your life. No matter how painful reality is, Let the Truth always be your wife Or husband. Not a human or a face But Truth itself should be your true spouse, Permanently nourishing you deep within you. Not a building, not an edifice or a space But the Truth itself should be your real house, Permanently protecting you deep within you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DIFFERENT STORIES
The story is always told differently From how it really happened Because the story was experienced differently From how it really happened By everyone to whom it really happened Even while it really happened To everyone to whom it really happened Like it never really happened. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
IN A DAY
So many things happen in a day So many people cross your way Some for work, some for play Each of them has something to say With or without words they pay You back for something from yesterday. Some will move on, some will stay - Examine them with your intuition’s light ray Let your yea be yea and your nay be nay And never forget, with your heart, to pray. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BAY OF HEART
There is always something to say And no one to say it to The heart is a deep wide bay Where stories and strangers sail into To quietly offload, sit and recuperate Locked in the soliloquy of the seeker The pain-cooked rebirth to elevate Phoenix back to Light in a world grown bleaker. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner rivero
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 