LOVE IS MY LIGHT

Love is my light
If I cannot love
I don’t feel right

Love leads me Above
Because it makes me light
Like a dove.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

CIRCLE TRIP

The Train will bring me to the Plane
The Plane will bring me to the Train
The Train will bring me back Home
How ever far away my heart may roam.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

INDEPENDENT HEART

I never knew the heart was an independent thing
Until I met you and my heart started to sing
And to fly towards you with unfolded wings

And to ignore me when I called it back

But has continued to you to cling
And to me aching and longing to bring
And to say This is the Queen for you my King.

And continues to ignore me when I call it back.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

PAIN AND GAIN

Without the pain
My life would have been so empty,
My spirit’s real gain
Are the lessons and they are plenty.

It is really possible
To lose a person and become whole,
It is really possible
To lose the world and gain your soul.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SHAME

Don’t be ashamed
Of your feeling of shame
For your ability to feel ashamed
Protects you from coming to shame.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FINDING VALUE

Separate yourself from things
In order to know the value of things
Go deep into things
In order to learn the true value in things

Separate yourself from people
In order to know the value of people
Come close to, go deep into, people
In order to see the true value in people

Metamorphose away from yourself
In order to know the value of yourself
Develop again into your true self
In order to feel the value in being yourself.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TO KILL A MAN

I‘ve died a thousand times
And each time I’ve come back to life again

If I die one more time
Will I be able to survive this new pain?

Something must break a man one day -
Something he did say, or a game he did play,
Or a woman that one day crosses his way.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

UNSATISFACTORY

When sex becomes meaningless
And repetition brings no satisfaction
And enjoyment morphs into stress
And indulgence brings overstimulation
And more is less, more or less,
The spirit slowly begins to dread temptation,
Hard to resist, hard to satisfy
The art of the lie and of the Lie,
The bitter cup shall pass none by.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

BLACK IN

We Are the Same - Just as capable
Just as valuable - Just as intelligent
Just as resilient - Just as determined
To even out the score

And you cannot put me down
I have not yet had enough
I want some more
What are we waiting for?

Black does not belong to the back
But to the front and will come back
To the fore
Through the front Door.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SNIPPETS

Hard words are sometimes the kindest
Foraging eyes are sometimes the blindest
Life’s help is sometimes to put you to the test
It pushes you to move when you long to rest

I’ve never wanted something so badly before
I’ve never eaten to my fill and still wanted some more
I’ve never said goodbye and continued to feel so sore
I’ve never been so trapped before in a folklore

So many new things starting at the same time
Be patient when you’re looking for the right rhyme
Little doses of salt and pepper, curry and thyme
Life is sometimes a little sugar, sometimes a little lime

I love like Haily’s comet, ever and again I come again
Laughter fills my heart again and conquers the pain
I can’t explain it, I am a lake and I am the rain
And so are you, and every end is just another refrain.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river