Value from work Dignity from value Peace of mind from dignity Peace in the world from peace of mind Cooperation from peace in the world Ideas from cooperation Work from ideas Value from work. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poetry
LOVE HURTS
If love hasn’t driven you mad Then you’ve never felt love before If love hasn’t made you unbearably sad Then love has not yet pierced your core If love hasn’t tested the line you had Between the good and the bad and fundamentally changed you forevermore, Then yours isn’t love, just a lore. And the most astounding part Is the dull ache somewhere in your heart and the cold ashes that remain when you walk down memory lane. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LOVE MIRROR
Mirror mirror on the wall - Who‘s the fairest of them all? Mirror mirror, as they fall - Who’s the dearest of them all? Mirror mirror, hear them call - Who’s the nearest of them all? Mirror mirror, it is dull - Who’s the clearest of them all? The eyes are the window of the soul And the mirror of the world within - Mirror my soul, picture me whole, Let me come in and let love begin. Mirror mirror on the wall, Who’s the surest of them all? Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ALL BECAUSE OF LOVE
We make mistakes And mistakes make us Who we are This is who we are We make decisions And decisions make us What we are This is what we are We make friends And friends make us How we are This is how we are We make love And love makes us Why we are This is why we are. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PRE-SENSING
You read me with your sixth sense That’s going too far, I settle for less I read you with my primitive sense My pre-sense Half of all communication is unintended Life is beautiful if we express it And even more beautiful if we let it express itself Through us in us as us for us to us with us Inspite of us You are a poem writing itself daily Your spirit, your thoughts, your emotions, your body Are flowing with the inner river Drawn to me With the purest of primitive intentions. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SONG OF RENEWAL
Once you burst the bubble, Spare yourself the trouble; Nothing that you do can ever bring it back again. The bubble had its season, The bursting had its reason; Their veracity’s value Is not diminished by your pain. The past looks real but isn’t, The gift is in the present; It makes you transform You - The only goal you can truly attain. Metamorphosis is life’s pleasure, It’s a treasure beyond measure; It makes you constantly renew Your focus on your spiritual lane. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
ONE LOOK
If we could see ourselves through Other people’s eyes, how much better We would know ourselves and them too. In the cold your gaze is a warm sweater And when I’m lonely and missing you Your eyes write me a wordless love letter. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BE RIGHT DO RIGHT
It‘s character that gets to heaven, not knowledge. Knowledge might know the way there even, but only character can attain the height of being, by doing, not just by knowing. Be right, do right, lets there be light. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOU CAN’T LEAVE YET
I ran left in a short vivid dream When I was climbing up the flight of stairs It was a flight of wide white marble stairs Or so it did seem But when I got to the top and turned back Behind me was a steep drop And a collapsed garden green from top To bottom and no way back. I found myself in the backyard of strangers So I jumped over the cactus hedge Onto the dusty brown street’s edge There to hurry towards new dangers Knocking on the locked red gate Where a hurt soul had declared war On the community I don’t know what for But to escape is now too late. Is it a dream or is it a mix-up? I haven’t even told you how this one began But the staircase disappeared and a man Said you can’t leave yet and I woke up. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MAKING SENSE
Some things don’t seem to make sense And yet they’re right. You just feel it inside. The intuition accompanies common sense And makes it make sense from another side. Life when seen through the heart’s full lens Will reveal contexts that otherwise hide; To a closed mind they appear like nonsense But one day through facts they’ll be verified. Some things that seemed to be an offence Are an offence only to the rigidified; Some that seemed real become pretence When eventually exposed by time and tide. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 