ZWEIMAL FRAGEN

Du kannst nur fragen
Zweimal sogar
Liegt Dir ein drittes Mal im Magen
Schweigst Du an ihn vorbei um ein Haar.

Du kannst nur zweimal fragen
Ein drittes Mal wäre bereits ein Klagen.
Teurer als in bar.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Im Jahrzehnt der deutschen Dichtung

THE OTHER CLAIRVOYANCE

Those who prepare
See the future
Preparation is clairvoyance

Imagination is sight
That’s why we call it vision
Damn right
Avoidance of annoyance

How far into the future do you see?
The next weekend? The next holiday?
The next dopamine high? Pleasure alley.
The next relationship? The next play?
The next argument? The next promotion?
The next opportunity? The time’s ever rife.
The next idea? Expansion of vision.
Old age? The next life?
Eternity?
How far into the future do you see?

What are you preparing for?

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ALL AND NOTHING

You cannot have it all
Appreciate what you have and give gratitude
The fruits that want to fall
The fruits that have to fall
The fruits that will fall
Let them fall
You cannot have it all
Where you have nothing appreciate your solitude
For you can never have it all.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

GRATITUDE

Gratitude gives joy
Brings joy
Is joy

Find your moment of gratitude today
Try a change of attitude, and pray
Climb unto a higher altitude.

Gratitude is a thing of joy.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

A FEELING OF WARMTH

A bright new day
And yet there’s no sun
Because the light
Is a feeling of warmth
Within my heart.

To let go of pain
Is a human feat
You will love again
We part to meet
And meet to part.

There’s a rainbow
Universal, not a slogan
Or a flag. A Hello
Of Hope for everyone
Eternity’s chart.

Heaven’s memory song
How great Thou art.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

CHOOSE WISELY

Don‘t waste your time with time-wasters
Who pull you in, retain and detain you:
Enjoy your wine instead with wine-tasters,
Those who want, understand and value you.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

HOW ARE YOU?

How are you?
“I’m fine” is how you feel,
It is not how you are.
So, How ARE you? For real.

Are you kind? Are you truthful?
Are you vain? Are you boastful?
Are you brave? Are you useful?
Are you despondent or hopeful?

What kind of person are you?
Are you dependable in times of danger, or greed?
What character type are you?
Are you a traitor in times of chance and need?

Are you led solely by your intellect?
Or do you listen to your intuition?
HOW are you? Don’t make-pretend.
Your nature is your true condition.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

CRACKED HALO

The loudest silence
Is two people alone in a room
Or in a relationship
But not knowing with whom
They are each talking
So they talk louder, hoping for an echo
And then they stop talking
For there is no answer to a broken Hello.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE OLD IN THE NEW

Every new thing you meet
Is an old thing to someone else
What to you is a new beat
Others have rocked from ever since

Your new love is someone’s old flame
Burning low but burning still
Because people stay the same
Captive to their former thrill

Battles you assumed were done
Suddenly resurface demanding review
Friends you thought were long gone
Suddenly come again to protect you

Nothing you meet is new
It is old to someone and to itself
It might even be old to you
But you simply don’t realise it yet.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SCROLLING

Lost in the detail
the news box jumps
into shudders of frenzy
Erratic loose bumps
unarmed with spiritual
context. Mind humps
matter mechanically
repeatedly aggressively
exhaustingly inconclusively
Algorithmically lumps
worldly with worldly opaquely
in ever thickening clumps
while scrolling thoughtfully
a nervous heart unsatisfactorily
seekingly nervously thumps.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river