You fight by being yourself You lose by losing yourself You win by remaining yourself Improving yourself, perfecting yourself As yourself Your deepest and highest and purest self. When you‘re not good enough for someone Don’t respond by becoming someone else Stay quietly yourself, your authentic self - When you’re too good to be true in someone’s view Don’t adjust and lower yourself to their comfort level Stay proudly yourself, your honest self - Just strive to be the best version of yourself. You can only attract those in tune with yourself When you show yourself - And if they are few and far between It’s still worth is. The loneliness is mean Crushing and worse when you’re not yourself. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poetry
WALKING AND TALKING
Walking myself Through the corridors of dull greyness Talking to myself Until I become free of all my bitterness For it doesn’t matter who has hurt me I am nothing special I have hurt many too, irreparably, deeply, With this my heart must wrestle. Walking and whistling Talking and thinking Of what I’m receiving Whenever I’m grieving Spiritual resetting Not ever forgetting Destiny re-weaving Deep inner perceiving. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
PASSING RIFFS
Little moments of life In the corners of strife Little stripes of light Hidden out of sight Hope is a melody, a song Where we all belong Sing along, old and young. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A QUIET LIFE
A quiet life You come and you go And barely anyone noticed You or your halo. This distant planet The Earth she’s called You visited and then were Quietly recalled. Some people don’t talk much You don’t even know they’re there But their hearts are deep And full of care. But their hearts are deep And full of care Treasure the quiet ones While they’re still here. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
GREETINGS ALONG THE WAY
Every flight is a flight of fantasy Every journey is a journey of discovery Every departure is a departure from routine Every arrival is an arrival somewhere in between Every stranger is of a stranger kind Every meeting is a meeting of minds Every parting is a parting of the Red Sea Every greeting is… Wait! Greetings. The greetings Are the closest we’ll come to most humans. Put into them the earnestness of meetings - They are often our sole communions. With eyes, with words, with gestures, With a handshake or an embrace - Greetings in all their textures Help us to feel our human race. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
READY OR NOT
By the time you’re ready for me I’ll be ready for me too I’ll no longer need you to Complete me and hold steady for me. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
CHALLENGE OF THE PRESENT
When they were living It was for them not the past; Now that we are living It is for us also not the past. It is always the present - And it always feels the same; For some it feels like the end, For others like the start, of the game. The future will one day look back And call our present their past - But their present too will hold them back With the same challenges of the past. It always demands bravery Without the benefit of hindsight; To act without knowing if posterity Will prove you wrong or right. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DOING IS HARDER
Most of us are weak Strong only in theory - To reach the mountain-peak Is easy in a paper story - Never underestimate One week It’s still Seven Days of weary Struggle through prospects bleak To attain the crown of glory. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TIME IS TOO LONG SOMETIMES
You have to wait a little while to really Get to know people’s character truly If you let them unfold themselves freely Around you they will unravel duly - Yes, they will start with a façade first ideally But the heart, the heart, the heart is unruly It will break rank and show itself verily Eventually, for patience grinds masks cruelly To submission. Truth emerges voluntarily. Not every friend is a friend Not every enemy is an enemy But sometimes you have to wait till the end To recognise each person clearly. Unfortunately by then it might be too late To correct what happened at the gate. You let the wrong person in And kept the wrong person out - O voice within, o voice within, o voice within, Help me to accurately check people out. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BEWARE OF ECHO CHAMBERS
Beware of echo chambers. People who speak your thoughts Will soothe your loneliness But won’t show you your blind spots. Listen also to those people Who see you completely differently From how you see yourself. Completion seems sometimes unfriendly. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 