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
Poems
LET THEM
People that want to come,
Let them come.
People who want to go,
Let them go.
Chase none, but tell some
That they should come;
However if they still want to go,
Don’t beg them, let them go
Back to where they’re coming from.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
FLOW
People will come and go
That’s all you need to know
When the river flows, just flow
Along with joy and sorrow.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
IRREVERSIBLE
What you’ve missed
You’ve missed
It’s not coming back
What you’ve lost
You’ve lost
You’re not getting it back
What you’ve broken
You’ve broken
You cannot make perfect again
Even with the best glue
And what you’ve touched
You’ve touched
You cannot erase your mark
And it will never forget you.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
THE NIGHT
Laughter in the night –
Is the night laughing?
Or is laughter growing deeper?
The night is the lover’s light
Depending on what you’re having
Be you a peeper
Or be you a weeper
Or be you a keeper.
The day is for the sower
The night is for the reaper.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
Beautiful women
Come from the land of within
And lead you back up
Into the land of within
And when they beautify
The world within you
You feel you’re In Paradise
In your world
And when they beautify you
In your inner world
You feel beautiful
And you become beautiful
In every other world.
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
VICISSITUDES
I never knew there was so much love
In the world until I was down;
I never knew there was so much hate
In the world until I wore a crown.
You just have to accept humanity the way it is;
People will surprise you with their love and their hate;
People will surprise you with betrayal and with loyalty;
A thousand changes everyday will be your fate.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
INNER ALIVENESS
The aim of life
Is to be inwardly alive –
Inwardly mobile
Like a child.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
FREEDOM CHANGES
Sometimes you win back your freedom
And it feels so strange
Because nothing, not even freedom,
Is free from change.
A free child, wild and uncouth,
Is not afraid to tell the truth –
A growing, blossoming and free youth
Is not afraid to hear the truth –
A free adult, grown full of ruth,
Is not afraid to protect the truth.
They are all free
All three
But they all see
Differently.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 