Where are you?
There is a song in my head
Yearning to be sung to you
There is a thirst in my Soul
Waiting to be quenched by you
There is a smile in my heart
Longing to be smiled at you
So where are you?
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Poems
STRIVING
I strive
Therefore I am
I am not
Therefore I strive
Striving is the beginning
And striving is the end
And when the end is over
And I am over with striving
I shall ascend
A smile on my lips
Because the end is the beginning
And the beginning is the end
So long as I am the made
And not the Maker
Besides “Dawn can never be reached
Save by the path of night”*
And there again I shall strive again
For striving is living is joy.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
(*Kahlil Gibran)
NIGHT RAIN SUN SHINE
Give me nightrain
Or give me pain
Still will I smile and smile again
Bring me sunshine
Or bring me ease
Still will I cry and never cease.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
SPREAD MY WINGS
When they tempt me
I won’t lie
When they hurt me
I won’t cry
When they free me
I won’t fly
And when they kill me
I won’t die
But will simply continue with my roam
Until I see what of my dream has become
And then I will smile, spread my wings and fly away home.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
THE ULTIMATE VOW
You made me a thousand promises
And heartlessly broke them all
But the Moment I will know the greatest sorrow
Is when you break that one vow
Which you solemnly made to yourself.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
SIGNALS
Two Little birds
sitting on a tree
one flies away, one hops down
yet they both have wings
Two Little men
working in the fields
one is alive and one is dead
yet they are both in life
It is the joy of laughing that makes me laugh
not the funniness of your jokes
It is the wit of my words that makes you laugh
not the joy of laughing
It is the joy of living that makes me live
not the fear of dying
It is the fear of dying that attaches you to life
not the joy of living
Two Little rabbits
facing Mother-Wolf
one is scuttling and one is whining
yet they both have feet.
Signals.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
CHANGE
Today we play on these strings, tomorrow
We play on different strings…
Today we hang from these beads, tomorrow
We hang from different beads
Today man swings to these beats, tomorrow
He changes to the swing of different beats;
And the lutes we finger are the same
Yet different, for the strings they hold
Have become different with time
Because every new day a new thing brings
And different hearts at different points will beat
On different strings.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
A FRIEND CALLED LONELY
Lonely becomes your friend
And you marvel
At his eloquence, deep and complex
Gnawing at your heart
Seeking the answers
Only you can give to him
To set him free.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
LIFE COMES IN CHAPTERS
Kidnapped
Is there still hope for me?
The sun sets sadly as slowly as he can
By the last light of day
Find a way
Did you see the baby that was stolen?
Did you see the boy that was broken?
However hard you look, you will see
No resemblance at all between them and
The man now woken, now walking.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
MUSIC PEOPLE
MUSIC
PEOPLE
LANGUAGE
UNDERSTOOD
FOR ONE
MOMENT
ONE MANKIND
ONE SPIRIT
1 LOVE.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 