PARTY TIME

Close the chapter and move on -
Life is a party. Put your dancing shoes on
And just groove on
Be the life of your own party.
Many invited guests will fail to show up
Don’t worry, the show will still go on
Many uninvited guests will crash the party
And light the show up
Your life is your party and it’s never done Dance on, move on, groove on.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

PATTERNS

One thing about life
Patterns repeat themselves
Next thing about life
Patterns repeat themselves
Another thing about life
Patterns repeat themselves

Until you break them.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

TAKE IT EASY

Possibilities of joy
are ruined by probabilities of sorrow
Today will annoy
the hell out of the peace of tomorrow

Stay simple
Don’t believe the hype
A tiny ripple
won’t burst your pipe
if you don’t turn it into a big wave -
Worry is deceptive, don’t be its slave.

Be simple in expectation
Be simple in perception
Be simple in deliberation
Be simple in expression.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

ONCE YOU TASTE TRUE LOVE

Once you taste true love
Lust becomes a mechanical chore
Pleasure is no longer enough
You want something more.

You learn to recognise the grain
And separate it from the chaff -
You want to feel that joy again
You want your heart to laugh.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FREE

Free me
Let me
Be me
Let me
Be free
Set me
Free.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

LOOKING EVERYWHERE

When people find what they are looking for
They find it’s not what they are looking for
And then they begin to look for
Clarity about what they are really looking for.

And they look for clarity everywhere,
In everything, in every way, they dare
Every adventure, no matter how rare,
Every experience that might get them there.

Because the possession of clarity
About one’s path and identity
Is the actual meaning of true life-quality
And the paramount shaper of reality.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

THE EARTH SCHOOL

There are some people
Who just don’t deserve good people,
Yet good people will be meet them
Because they’re a part of the system;
There’s nothing you can do about that.

As long as you walk this earth,
You deserve every experience you get;
You signed up for it before birth
And now you have to run the gauntlet -
There’s nothing you can do about that.

Welcome to the school of maturing,
Of pain, temptation, of debt incurring -
But you CAN conquer after long enduring.
Now I don’t know if you find this reassuring,
But there’s nothing you can do about that.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

MY PATH

I‘m just on my lonely path
But very few people know
And even those that know
Still don’t really know
Because how can you know
What I don’t truly show?
The nature of my sorrow
The depth of my flow
For I still have many miles to go
In my search for tomorrow
And only I truly know
The loneliness of my path.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

SELF-CONTROL

There are some you don’t take,
Even when they make themselves available,
For heaven’s and your dignity‘s sake -
Pleasure today will tomorrow be regrettable.

The line you draw will be your lifeline,
A line as high and thick as it is invisible and fine.
The gap you maintain will maintain your pride;
If you cross it, shame will become the great divide.

Some things it’s better not to do,
Not because of what you’ll gain or not gain,
But because of what it will take from you;
It can’t be repaired by even the deepest pain.

Honour makes a nation
And integrity makes a state -
The day you learn to resist temptation
Is the day you become great.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river

FIGHT TO LIVE

Fight to live
Force yourself to forgive
Weigh what you give
Let it come from the heart
But let it not be too heavy
Not everyone can bear the weight
Of your true inner state
There’s a lot on your plate
But others have their own plate too
Be light sometimes
Be easy sometimes
Let people smile sometimes
When they think of you
As they too fight to live.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river