My pain plays with me
My pain stays with me
My pain prays with me
When I pray…
My pain visits me
My pain kisses me
My pain teaches me
How to pray…
I forget you, I forget me
I have to, because without you and without me
I know no pain, even when I pray.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Give me you.
Before you begin to wonder
What you are, remember
That each star and each season
Is nature’s gift for a reason
And you, dear spirit, your blossoming heart
Is spirit’s gift to the gift of art
It is the art of being you.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
I saw a bell
Fall under the spell
Of a magic wand
In a magician’s hand
And he turned the bell into a man
Walking up and down the land
Ringing out a message to everyone
But only a few will understand
I tell you what.
Affiliation to nationality and religion, gender, class and race
Will always be more important to the human race
Than being human, our common lot.
So now the bells, they are ringing
The hearts, they are singing
The times, they are bringing
A Message of Hope.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Good morning, Quietness,
I remember how with surprise
I felt your absence last night.
And did I thirst for you? First I thrashed about wildly,
Clutching at every suggestion of you,
Then, exhausted, like a leopard I crouched, still,
And lay in wait for you – awake, listening,
Until the morning came… My life rolled before my inner eyes,
Awakening you from the depths of my heart –
Good morning, Quietness, as I fall asleep at last.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
There is a bird
Crying outside my window
In the woods
An echo of loneliness within me…
Every few seconds
A lonesome wail
Haunting, detached, a hall of sorrows
An abandoned lover
A brother alone
A wanderer in the woods of life
Between the trees and the dark leaves
Beneath the reach of the sun…
I hear your call
Partner
I feel you, I feel you well.
The glass is dark
The mirror within is a bird outside
I never see but always hear
For I carry the sorrow within.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Your secrets
Give them power over you
When you lose your fear of your secrets
They lose their power over you
No-one is feared more
Than one who says yes I did it, so what?
You can break a warrior’s shell
But you cannot make the warrior fear you as well.
Breathe out, brave one, and live some more
Your weaknesses and your strengths are all you’ve got.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
I saw a big spirit
Carrying a small body
Upright and light and taller
Than the giants that dwarfed her
I saw a strong spirit
Carrying a crippled body
Gracefully, effortlessly, healing
The minds that came his way.
Like the seasons that change
So every Body will go
But our natures will stay
And spirit, spirit will find a way
To break through the shell
And say Hello.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Shone the New Star
Like a Comet
Blessed tail a-resting nobly
Upon the manger
A guardian, a herald
Of Eternal Love
Of Eternal Light
And I saw a smile
‘Twas an Angel singing
And a Child with serious eyes
Smiling greetingly
Into a world full of strange creatures
Long lost –
A candle is re-lit
A cradle is rocked with overflowing light
The Bearer of the Crown
Came simply
And left simply
And nobody can know completely
How much love He had
How much pain He felt
How much He loved and hurt
A Stranger
A Hero
The Incarnation of Love Itself
The Love of God
Yea, Thou art He
Jesus, the Christ
The Son of the Living God!
Amen.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Most things become
smaller
Receeding into
Distance.
Yet, as memories of you
Race into fargone bowels of time
Looking back all I see
You towering ever bigger in my mind –
How can this be?
Newton, Einstein and Hawkings may try
But never can explain this –
It transcends intellect.
Time, the subtle thief, with time
Has become the subtle teacher
The subtle giver
The subtle gift.
(for Kwame Chukwumerije)
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
There is something about Christmas
Even in places where it is cold, it is warm
Those without electricity bring light to each other
Drought and famine cannot destroy the bread of life
War will not make us forget that we are one human family
And the rich will not be happier than the poor –
There is a light that brought warmth upon this earth
If the cold of loneliness grips your heart this year
May Christmas touch you and make you warm.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
I wrote this poem as part of an interview published in Sabine’s Lifestyle-Kolumne. The body of the interview is however in german, but it can be read here.
*Aka Teraka was my pseudonym.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 