The snow is red but not with envy Heavy with the weight of thought Waiting for the warmth of friendship Forgiveness and love and a drop Of sunlight to melt into the ground Going it looks ugly but it’s not Letting go of what you thought you’d found But, patience, the Earth will eat it all up. Are you snowing, are you falling Are you resting, are you thawing Are you meting, are you calling For companionship while you’re withdrawing? Slowly withdrawing… Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poems from the inner river
A PART OF YOU
Sometimes a part of you Can live outside of you And run away from you And refuse to come back to you And will ignore you And will not recognise you And will reject you And will hurt you And will avoid you Because the reason why It is living outside of you Is in order to find itself And fully become itself Through struggle, experiencing and reflection Uninfluenced by you In order to one day be able To complement you And be complemented by you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WHEN I WAIT
When I wait, I wait for you When I go, I go to you When I stand, I stand with you What are you? When I live, I live in you When I die, I die because of you When I work, I work for you Who are you? When I remember, I remember you When I dream, I dream of you When I long, I long for you When are you? Why are you so present? Why are you so absent? Why are you so prescient? Why are you? Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PEOPLE NEVER COME BACK
People never come back They move on to the new you Or to their new perception of you With or without you And you move on to the new them Or to your new perception of them With or without them But the old will never come back. Tomorrow will come. Those who try to cling on to the past Lose their way and orientation very fast Because Time never goes back. Those who meet again do so in the future As different people with a different Nature Because only going forward takes you back Home. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ONE LOVE
You can only love one person, you can never love two people or even more. True love. In order to love another person, you have to first change and become a different person. But the person who loved that first person can never ever love another person. Once your heart has bonded, it can never ever unbond again, until it dies and becomes born again as a new heart.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
SELF-RESTRAINT
Just because it’s available Doesn’t mean you should take it; Just because it’s achievable Doesn’t mean you should make it; Just because it’s vulnerable Doesn’t mean you should break it; Just because it’s uncomfortable Doesn’t mean you should fake it; Just because it’s unshakeable Doesn’t mean you should shake it; Just because it’s accessible Doesn’t mean you should wake it; Just because it’s expendable Doesn’t mean you should stake it; Just because it’s edible Doesn’t mean you should bake it. Some things you just leave as they are. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LICENCE TO LAUGH
Learn to bear your pain in aloneness, But don’t bear your aloneness in pain. Aloneness should bring relief from stress, Should help you inner peace to attain. Being alone with your sorrow is sad; Share your aloneness instead with your gladness. Seclusion allows the Healing Power of GOD to save you from overstimulation and madness. And you will be born anew in silence, For aloneness is the mother of transformation. And joy shall be your portion and your licence To laugh again, in you a flame of Devotion. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
STRANGE WAYFELLOWS
People are already on a path when you meet them, On their own path, with their own mission. You think they’re walking with you, but then Suddenly they jump off at some junction. As strange and disorienting as it seems to you, The truth is that it was not a new decision That they took. They were never really with you, They were always going in their own direction. You were just entertainment along the way Or brief company, and victim of an illusion. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the Inner river
IT’S A HUMAN HEART
It’s winter You’ll have warmer days And you’ll have colder days But they’ll all be cold. It’s a human heart You’ll have clearer days And you’ll have uncertain moments But still, be bold. It’s an Earth life You came to cry And you came to laugh And maybe grow old. The people you love the most Will cause you the most pain And yet they’re the only ones Your heart will want to hold. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SOMEONE THAT LOVES YOU
To have someone that loves you, Really loves you, is the most beautiful thing, The most special thing, that can happen to you - Nothing can describe it, not even a ring. It is a special gift from God reaching you Through the agency of another human’s devotion - Devotion to you, surrender to you, Service to you, support of you, Love for you, care towards you, Honesty with you, dedication to you, Joyful natural voluntary sacrifice to and for you, Giving you dignity and protection And bringing you elevation and elation. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 