Poems

BEFORE I DIE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Life is a vineyard
I’m thinking of wine, you know wine?
Internalise life in little sips
Don’t rush me, don’t rush you
Life even then is strong enough.

Life is a graveyard
You pass it by, reluctant to look in
It scares you
Littered with the memories of the reflection
Of your certain destiny
It brings you into deepest reflection
Most sober. Life, you scare me to death.

Before I die I want to love somebody
I need to love somebody
I cannot just come and go like that
I want to love somebody with all my heart
With all my heart
At least once in my life.

And then I loved somebody and it
Was still not enough. And then I knew:
Before I die, I need to believe in something
And fight for something and live
For something more important to me
Than my own self. To be myself is
To become selfless.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ALL I NEED IN THIS LIFE OF SIN

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

There is something about being different –
People can’t place their finger on it, can’t say why…
Some think it’s your colour
Some think it’s your hair
Some think it’s your religion, your culture, your upbringing and education –
Whence is the origin of that which is deeper than style?

Well, when God sunk me, a melody,
Into the soils of soul searching
He must have watered me with the laughter of your wellspring
Because you are my taste
When I feed upon His Word –
Ssshh, I say no more.

Blessed be he, that wandering bard,
Who in sweet swansong sighed and said:
“All I need in this life of sin
Is me and my girlfriend.”
I know what you mean, Tupac.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

AT THE HOSPITAL

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

In the hospital waiting room
It was not the sick who were ailing
But the healthy who accompanied them

I saw more worry in the eye
Of many a mother
Many thoughts on the brow of
Each accompanying husband

I saw that love shares burdens
And carries them doubly
And friendship will go the extra mile
And family is a wordless wonder
And the heart is the deepest mystery on earth.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE WORLD IS ENOUGH

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

I knew it
It was too new
Not to be true too –
The questions unreplied were too few too
Happiness swallowed all the cares
Sorrow wears
Discord tears
Happiness shares and it goes around
The world is enough
Big enough, small enough, world enough
Sure.
Manure is pure. Sure.
Even a decadent mind
Even that dark heart
Can laugh out loud
Out loud –
Manure is pure.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

FREEDOM SPIRIT

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I am on the bird’s wing,
When it beats they say
It is my heart.
Where are you going,
Prodigal Son?

I am on the lion’s tail.
When it twitches they say
It is my pride.
Where are you going,
Rebellious Brother?

If you put your ear
To the ground
All you will hear
Is the Spirit that
Rides within.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

PRIDE AND PAIN

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

That Mountain yes
It is high, hard, rugged, dogged
And casts a long shadow

It will not stop you
From arriving the other side
Of your pride, when love touches you –

You say it, I’m sorry
It hurts but not for long
Pain heals. I’m sorry…

Those tears are more powerful
Than a waterfall, every barrier will break
In their wake, they will wash the air
Clean, like nature’s storm –

I’m sorry is a power that is a winner.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

OUR SHARE

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The freedom you give yourselves
Is the freedom you’ll share

If you say I won’t be free
You’re bound to binding me

If you say you’ll own it all
You’ll have to fight us off

Because I want a piece of peace
A pint of prosperity

A joint of hope and happiness
A chunk of a chance at success

A healthy dose of social security
And a shot of education –

Give us our share!
Cheers!

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE POWER HUNGER GAMES

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

If I don’t win these elections
I will burn down this country

Well I think if you win
You will burn it down even faster

Some people don’t shout any more
They let the bombs speak for them
Some people don’t threaten any more
They let the kidnapped girls be their message

These are those days again
When fear paralyses the strong
And empowers the weak.

And then they won
And it was business as usual
As usual.
Fool us twice, shame on us.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WINNING HEART

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Success is attractive. Only success.
Yet she found you attractive
For you alone were successful
At conquering her hardened heart

There are many walking wounds on earth
Many crusted souls aching for life
Think not that you are nothing
Simply because you never made it to that school
That job, that position, that wealth, that status…
It is also success to heal a human heart.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

A MIGHTY WALK FOR A SHATTERED MIND

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

The Sound of Evening
Beginning to rise
Filled her ears…
They say she’s mad
She’s not bad, she’s just sad
Locked in a jigsaw puzzle
A kaleidoscopic riot of betrayed dreams
Tangled up in her shattered mind
Entangling her to that spot of evening sand
Around which she circles every
Sunset.

There is an unclear thought in her mind that occupies her
Worryingly, perpetually –
If only she could think it through, she thinks
Just once think it through…
Bound to the ungrasped thought
She circles and circles it endlessly…

I want to touch her and tell her
To just walk away from it…
It’s an illusion – walk away…

But she won’t hear.
Yesterday, after a thousand lifetimes
I passed that way
And looked again

And she’s still there… struggling
And struggling
With a thought
That almost
But just never crosses
Her mind.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.