Things change so suddenly,
Or so slowly, it’s hard to tell the difference.
In quiet times, surreptitiously,
Change things which survived turbulence.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Poems
NO JUST SAY YES
Sun lit skin soft wear soul
Hard horn hole hard we’re whole
Black smith white wash charmed coal
Wish pond flesh wound fist bowl
Come fourth com fort cum froth
Lie in truth win lap broth
Just say no just say yes
Dress wound stress out wound dress
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
NO THANKS
Some take and never say Thank you
They deplete you and then blank you
You enrich them and they spank you
With ingratitude they seek to outflank you
Outrank you, shank you and tank you.
And you ask yourself thoughtfully
Why did I lower myself so lovingly?
Givers give so willingly
And learn so reluctantly
To stop giving everything so freely.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
FRIENDS CONNECTION
Friends connection
Friends collection
Friends correction
Friends conviction
Friends conversion
Friends conversation
Friends collaboration
Friends confrontation
Friends corroboration
Friends. The constitution
Of Union.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
ANY HOPE?
The world is so wide
It is a mirror that cracked
From side to side
Globalising cracks intact
The Darkness has matured
It has become more conscious
than ever, clear, self-assured –
Discarded, its masks pious.
A good thought
who still has one to spare?
Any Hope? I know not
when or from where.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
SILENT PLANETS
Some things are just not meant to be How ever hard you try to bring them about With a whimper, with a whisper, with a shout There is a planet Running away from a ray of light Coming from another planet Running in the other direction of night. They will never see each other Even though they sense that somewhere Another lonely planet is also out there. No whimper, no whisper, no shout - Silence is the satire of doubt. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SCAR TISSUE
Deleted messages Deliver the message poignantly Like an ugly scar that tenderly hurts Memorising the wound visibly And then they accumulate Like a conversational give and take And talk to each other eloquently Saying more than the words they take back Opening up the distance irreversibly. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE POND
Your voice is in my heart
Although we’re farther apart
Than a mind can see, can scan,
Hearts with ease infinity will span
Between Earthlives and Beyond
Across universes spirits bond
Like lily leaves on a little pond.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
BATTLE FATIGUES
I carry tiredness around with me Like a pouch, like a backpack, From which I draw humility And simplicity As compensation for the strength I lack. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PROPER SELF-APPRAISAL
We must always examine the routines to which we dedicate our lives. So that in our last moments on earth our hearts are not filled with regret.
The poem therein
Is the pain within
A delayed begin
After-death medicine
Your gender cannot set you free
Your race cannot set you free
Your nation cannot set you free
Your family cannot set you free
Your religion cannot set you free
Your qualifications cannot set you free
Your position cannot set you free
Your achievements cannot set you free
From the prison of a wrong identity.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 