How are you? “I’m fine” is how you feel, It is not how you are. So, How ARE you? For real. Are you kind? Are you truthful? Are you vain? Are you boastful? Are you brave? Are you useful? Are you despondent or hopeful? What kind of person are you? Are you dependable in times of danger, or greed? What character type are you? Are you a traitor in times of chance and need? Are you led solely by your intellect? Or do you listen to your intuition? HOW are you? Don’t make-pretend. Your nature is your true condition. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poetry
CRACKED HALO
The loudest silence
Is two people alone in a room
Or in a relationship
But not knowing with whom
They are each talking
So they talk louder, hoping for an echo
And then they stop talking
For there is no answer to a broken Hello.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
THE OLD IN THE NEW
Every new thing you meet Is an old thing to someone else What to you is a new beat Others have rocked from ever since Your new love is someone’s old flame Burning low but burning still Because people stay the same Captive to their former thrill Battles you assumed were done Suddenly resurface demanding review Friends you thought were long gone Suddenly come again to protect you Nothing you meet is new It is old to someone and to itself It might even be old to you But you simply don’t realise it yet. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
SCROLLING
Lost in the detail the news box jumps into shudders of frenzy Erratic loose bumps unarmed with spiritual context. Mind humps matter mechanically repeatedly aggressively exhaustingly inconclusively Algorithmically lumps worldly with worldly opaquely in ever thickening clumps while scrolling thoughtfully a nervous heart unsatisfactorily seekingly nervously thumps. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MORNING YEARNINGS
Good morning, true Morning, Child of a Blue Night Spent on an Island of Dawning By a bright Dream light. Invisible sun, I feel you coming, Son of a celestial Height Full of a gazillion suns roaming Beyond earthly sight. I saw you in my dream last night My heart awakened and took flight Driven by longing for a land of light That called me, filled me, with delight Good morning, new Morning, Born of gentle Might, Let the world be gripped by Yearning… Let there be Light! Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
WORLD OF THOUGHTS
Imagine if there were an invisible war taking place In the world of thoughts, A carnage whose only trace Is this disharmony on Earth That evades all correction Whose roots seem omnipresent And elude detection. A parallel world, a prototype, The way we think, our inner life, Create the future we must face, our world of woe and strife. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BRUISED SOUL
A wild world
Full of gentleness and calm
Hot afternoon sun
Cool evening breeze, oh balm
Oh blow softly o’er my bruised
Soul, my used, confused palm
Craving a crisp clasp, my blues’d
Memory of belonging to you
Briefly ellipsed –
Briskly eclipsed by re-longing for you.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
NATURE’S MIX
The red leaves The brown bricks The orange clouds The yellow sticks The evening hues Illusion kicks in blended reality My mind’s tricks Make me feel Nature’s magic mix. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
MUSIC MADE ME
Music made me sad Sadness made me glad Gladness made me bad Badness made me mad Madness made me make music Music made me sad Sadness made me glad Gladness made me bad Badness made me mad Madness made me make music Music… Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BRAVE THE LINE
Brave spirit, brave the line Between present and future, You’ll be just fine - Braving the new is human nature. Imagine a world turned around Where the servant becomes the master And those who were bound Now run ahead, moving ever faster. A time where crime is shamed And virtue claims the highest rewards And you won’t be blamed For honest mistakes moving forward. This future is yours to imagine Yours to embody, yours to achieve And it starts crystallizing Today with the way you live. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 