Perfection is for the cowardly Perfection is for the vain Perfection is for the insecure Afraid of the rugged terrain Perfection is for the talentless Unable to handle the unknown Perfection is for the clueless For the lazy follower, the drone Give me imperfection at dawn The origin of the day and the way Give me imperfection at dusk The source of tomorrow’s dream. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Poetry
FRIENDSHIP IS FOR THE PATIENT
Step with each other Step without each other, but step Step ahead of each other Step behind each other, but step Step beside each other, step around each other Step over each other, step under each other But never ever step on one another. Feel our steps inside of each other. Step inspite of each other, but step Step to one another, Step away from one another, but… Step always for one another. Feel ourselves stepping inside of us. Friendship is for the patient. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS FOR THE DARING
It’s not the bite in your pride when the rejection is nearing that you are really fearing It is not the hope that died while heartbreak was jeering that built the guard you’re wearing It is the invasion of your Inside, the vulnerability in sharing, the agony, the pain, of caring Deep within is where you hide, finding strength, slowly preparing, because love is for the daring. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BEYOND A.I.
Now that A.I. has mirrored our past the past has become boring - We need a new humanity at last with basic new senses for exploring a future that in a different context is cast, less artificial, less vain, less deploring, more human, simple, more steadfast at peace-making, tired of warring, free from materialism’s comfort ballast, our inner mobility restoring. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
DON’T LOSE YOURSELF IN THE CROWD
Never join the crowd Let your silence be loud - Never yield to the crowd Let your humility be proud - The opinion of the crowd Is a blindfold, a shroud - We’re all parts of a crowd, But each with a spirit endowed. Don’t lose yourself in the crowd Because when you were allowed To come into being, you vowed To become an individual, unbowed. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HINDSIGHT
Knives in my back They help me stand upright You’ve got my back Covered with purpose and bite Back-stabbing attacks Strengthen my will to fight What in foresight a man lacks He makes up for with hindsight. The opened eyes at the back of your head Are the lessons learned from the life you’ve led The wars in which you bravely bled And the wars from which you falsely fled Treachery in you and others is rife But you learn to fight better looking ahead Your rear-facing eyes bring back to life All the things you thought were dead. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
VISITOR FROM HEAVEN
You were there I saw you even if many others did not You were there I saw you even if even my eyes did not You were there I saw you. I saw you in the swelling of my heart In the paths that my thoughts did chart I saw you, for they were thoughts of thee. Thoughts of all those things which Thou art The origin, the beginning, the head, the start I saw you in my sensing of eternity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
YOU ARE THE ONE I‘M THINKING OF
The light goes on and off like a shivering bulb in a cold room Your heart is not enough to beat back the nocturnal bloom Dawn, the dusk is tough the mother of both glow and gloom Lover, your mouth is rough when you kiss at night you don’t know whom Shadows long call your bluff but your birdsong cries out mushroom I’m you’re d’healer I’ve got the good stuff sweeping you off your feet like your bride broom Yes, you are the one I’m thinking of When the new moon starts to wax and loom. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE FORGOTTEN YOU
How could I forget you?
And forget that I forgot you?
Even this I forgot.
Forgot your face
Forget your eyes
Forgot your ways
Forgot our ties
Forgot the words we spoke in the night
Forgot the cadence of your voice’s delight
Forgot your touch, so deep, so light
I did not even remember you as a dream
You just were never there it would seem
Memory is a fast-flowing vanishing stream.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
LONGING WITHOUT BELONGING
Half me half you I became because of you Neither me nor you I remain and so do you If I became fully me And you became fully you Would there be any similarity Between me and you? For the urge that binds us Is the urge than divides us We are similar in longing But dissimilar in belonging. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
