SOME WAITS

I’m in a garden full of fruits
But I am not hungry,
And what I crave only
Is buried deep down in the roots.

And I am waiting patiently
For it to sprout again
And no pleasure can dull the pain
Or nourish me substantially.

Some waits last long, longer
Than a lifetime or two;
Reincarnation is the cue
To re-become younger and stronger.

Don’t hurry your wounds,
Let them heal at their own pace;
Life and love are not a race,
Some years have thirteen moons.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HEALING QUIETLY

It‘s quiet inside
Grown silent in a heart
Of memories rich in restraint
A talking drum a world apart
It takes a village to raise a child
It takes a community to heal an inner child
And silence in a quiet place in your heart.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

DIFFERENTLY YOU

If you are different
No matter how diffident
You try to be
They will still see
That you are different.

So, do you
And be true
All the way through
Their mean or funny looks –
A dose of courage is all it takes.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ME

I will try
to be me
And trying
to be me
Is a part
of being me.

And in trying
to be me
I have already
become me.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HARD TO EXPLAIN

There are too many things
In my heart
For which I don’t have words -

Some are chains, some are wings,
Some please, some hurt,
Some are shields, some are swords.

All are a part of the challenge in me,
Hurting me, holding me, healing me.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

COME INTO THE LIGHT

Come into the light
Here where Home is bright
Let us exchange insight
With the same intensity
With which we sometimes fight
Let Honesty be our Propensity
At the very Height
Of our Intimacy
It will feel right, it will feel so right
Without a shred of complacency.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE OPPOSITE

When they pull the ground out
From under your feet,
Grow wings and learn to fly.

When they hurt you,
They make you stronger,
Growing younger and younger
Everyday until you die.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

PRIZE

People who try to bring you down
Will see you rise -
Their thorns will turn into your crown,
That’s your prize.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HOMEWORK

We have to become beautiful
Inside and outside
And stop roaming the earth full
Of shame and pride
Looking for a Paradise
That is ours and ours alone to make -
Until we arise
At home, our success abroad is fake.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

I WANT TO GROW

I want to grow
I want to know
What’s outside the window
Of my sorrow

I want to go
Where pain cannot follow
Too deep to flow
Too far for tomorrow

The incredible today Show
Thousandfold ecstasy and woe
Changes me into what I need to know
Ahead of tomorrow.

Many more miles to go
The first step is to sow
Hope, sow Joy, sow kindness despite sorrow
Growth is a stream, gently row.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river