I don‘t waste time. There is no wasted second Or minute or hour in my day. A day with me Is a month with many others Every moment counts everyday. Every thought, word, Every action, emotion, every intuition Everything has a role to play Everybody I meet Has something to return to me Or is someone I must rightly repay. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poetry
GIVING TIME AND SPACE
When someone asks for time and space
Give it to them
They are not necessarily running away from you
They might really just need time and space
To come to terms with the fact of you.
And if they are running away from you
Then there’s no need to want them close to you.
It’s not an insult or an attack
It’s just a chance to find true happiness for both of you
Each in their own way, own time and own space.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
WATERBORNE
There are many stories in the water But not all will flow away Some will sink down to the bottom With all the things they have to say Buried in the depths of a culture That runs like a river from yesterday Stories of survival of slavery and torture And chains and whips and treachery While you swim and while you sail While you drink and wash your tears away Bitten by sharks, swallowed by whales Black took an L, but is still in play Secrets survive millennia in the water Powers of civilisation do not decay Many are still lying at the bottom Burning to build new glories another day. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HUNGRY FOR HUMAN LOVE
The world is a buffet All you can meet Humanity at the venue All you can greet Kindness on the menu All you can treat Love and pain the entree All you can eat. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE LONG FALL
The thing which if kissed will bring you the wildest happiness Is the thing which if missed will bring you the deepest sadness The higher you did fly The longer you will fall down Until you hit the ground And instantaneously die. It is not the final impact that hurts but the long excruciatingly long fall unable to reverse or arrest or accelerate the moment that will end it all. A time of remembering A time of regretting A time of wishful extrapolating And never forgetting. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE BOUNDARY OF SELF
It‘s Hard to escape the gravity of the Earth It’s Hard to outgrow the culture of your birth It’s Hard for the tide to exceed its continental shelf It’s Hard to see beyond the boundary of yourself. The more you see, the more you see you The farther you go, the farther YOU go The more you do, the more you do you You reap You because that’s what you sow It’s Impossible to get from a thing more than it’s worth It’s Impossible to go further north than the north It’s Impossible for the earthly eye to see an Elf It’s Impossible to grasp beyond the boundary of yourself The more you overcome you the more you become you Until in the end you are all you know The more you wander, the more you understand you Because in the end you are all you really can ever know. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MOVE!
Move! You have to move! Always you have to move move move! Change change change! Move And move again and again Keep moving keep changing your lane Joy and pain sunshine and rain playing and praying And always adjusting and recalibrating And moving and moving and moving And constantly growing and improving. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
OPPORTUNITY
Good Morning Opportunity, In what ever form or person you cross my path today May I have the strength and clarity To recognise, appreciate, take, keep and use you, I pray. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
AT THE BEGINNING
Pay attention to the beginning In the beginning Because the beginning Is the beginning of the ending. Every seed planted in the beginning Will become a fruit or a flower or weed And, before the end, manifest as a deed. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SOLITUDE AND YOU
A part of me still wants to show you Every little flower that crosses my lane Share with you every story and review That get’s thrown up by my algorithm Tell you all the things that cross my mind Numberless times all through the day Reveal my plans and ask you if you also find Them as interesting as they seem to me Ask you how you are, where you are, Who you’re with, what you’re doing there Where it is, if it’s near or if it’s far How long you’ve been and will be there… But then another part of me reminds me That you are gone and gone for good And I lock my conversations back inside me Because I’m getting used to this solitude. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 