YOUR OWN

Don’t go after what you don’t desire,
And don’t go after what does not desire you.

Connect with your own and you will go higher -
Chasing the wrong one will drain and tire you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

A NEW BEGINNING

A beautiful day,
My heart opens in joy and gratitude
And begins to pray:
Thank You, Lord, for healing, for fortitude,
For blessing my way
With true friends and a heart of quietude,
For sending Your Ray
Of warmth into the depth of my solitude.

Although I lost my woman
I gained new friends and a reopened heart.
With pain grows acumen;
Life is a journey, Your Word is the Chart.
It’s hard to be a true man
But every new day is a good day to start.
Daily You make me human,
moulding through experiences my innermost part.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

RECALIBRATED

When you‘ve lost
What you love the most
You have nothing more to lose.

When what gives you strength
Leaves you
Then you have only yourself left to choose.

And your God. And seriousness.
No more half-bonds.
Whatever stays must really be your crew’s.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

QUIETLY

Is there any hope for me?
Good Friday not so good.
A deep slumber of mystery,
A soul troubled to darkly brood,
A distracted mind of matter,
But knock knock, knock on wood,
Who’s there to lovingly shatter
My illusions? For truth is food.
Wake me up before you go -
Resurrection will upon crucifixion intrude:
Resist injustice, rediscover my glow,
Because, inside, I’m in a sunny mood.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SHOW YOU

Show people who you are
So that those who want to go will go
And those who want to stay will stay
And those who want to come will come
And those who want to keep away will keep away.

And when they show you who they are
You will be hurt by some who go
And be pleasantly surprised by some who stay,
You will be amazed by some who come
And you will not even notice those who keep away. 

Show people who you are
And they will show you who they are.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

IT IS WHY WE LIVE

It doesn’t matter who broke your heart
Or how badly they broke it.
It doesn’t matter how much it hurt.
When the new one comes,
Love again. And love HARDER.

Once you set off, don’t look back.
Pain is not and is never our master.
Joy and love lie always ahead -
Fall forward. It is why we live
With the fullness of our heart always to give.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

MUSIC OF THE HEART

My days feel like years
My years feel like days
My smile hurts like tears
My tears smoothen my ways
My hopes are also my fears
My fears are my other Ayes
My inner eyes are my ears
They hear every music that plays.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

WHAT HUMANS CAN DO

A.I. can only do
What has been done before

Only humans
Can do truly new things

Spirit, give me more –
New hearts beat on different strings.
Spirit, give me those things
That only human spirits can do.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

YOUR FLOWER

Run down your Friends List
Run up your memory quest
Run through your heart first
You will find the same flower
In your happiest and saddest hour
And that flower is your power.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

MARCH TOWARDS APRIL

So many things ending in my life this month, as March ends. And so many things starting. Looking forward to April. Is my heart big enough to contain and bear it all? Yes, my heart is always big enough. And when it isn’t, it simply grows some more, grows again.

Aries, as ever, you end the old and bring the new. For me, to me, in me.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains