Poetry

THE BITE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

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Let your life bite
And bite deep, incisive and tight
Into the lives of others,
Strangers, foes and brothers –

Let it bite
And be felt right
Inside their core
Let them ask for more
When you’re gone
And they’re left alone.

Even though now they complain
For your bite awakens inner pain,
Yet bite deep, bite deep,
When it is time to reap
They will harvest laughter
And laughter after laughter
Because you bit them not with hate,
But in love the seeds of lofty fate
You did dutifully implant –
So let them rant.

Bite, my son, and be bitten,
Smite and be smitten,
Submit to the urge
That bids your river surge
Over all obstacles, my boy,
Breaking all shackles, each like a toy
Life’s battle you must enjoy
It is the repeat of Troy.
And you’ll leave behind upon the earth
By the time death has slain birth
A quiet legacy of truth
And immortal youth.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

UNCONSCIOUS

~ Che ~ 5 Comments

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A leaf…
Trembling in
The wind –

I
Through life move
With half-open eyes
That fail to see the other
Side…

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WALK YOUR OWN PATHS

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Don’t follow
When the road is hollow
Which they ply –
In your heart is sky.
The answer will sound in your heart
Long after your mother and I depart
Run your immortal run
A time once upon,
You my daughter and you my son.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ROW YOUR BOAT

~ Che ~ 9 Comments

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Do you see
Those two boats
On the river?
Two brothers
Will row, side by side
Into the sunset.

One will dock
On the golden banks
While the other
Will row on
And they will wave
Goodbye to each other.

This is the way
Of the world
Of love and loss
Of meeting and parting
Of friendship and memory
Of life and death.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

Picture:
My brother Kwame and I
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1995

A few weeks later, he passed on in a car accident.
This was our last picture together.

Kwame & Che
Kwame and Che

 

SHARE

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

imageHow many go ahead
Who yet remember to erect road signs?
How many who break bread
Remember to leave a trail of crumbs behind?
I did not when I was ahead
But realised it not until I too fell behind.
Your hole yeast bread
Won’t rise to your comfort in lonely times.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

AT NIGHT…

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

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Truth undresses
Conscience pricks
Contemplation caresses
What conversation can’t fix.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE MIDNIGHT CANDLE

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

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Spirit flame in the world of it-doesn’t-matter
Radiant star never-the-less in the darkness
Night is a blessing for lost dreamers
It is the world-wanderer’s permanent address

Night makes the seeing blind
And the insight sharp as blade
The fire within will warm the cold
Feet of dew

Young mind, never mind
The world well and shiny made
It is for the old
You were born to bring the new.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

IMAGINATION

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

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They were not decorations on our wall
We were shadows on theirs
Flickering like candle thoughts
Gathering, falling and dispersing
Like broods of clouds
When we stand across the divide
Looking at each other, it’s hard to tell
Who is real
And who is the figment of whose imagination.

Writer, did you write your book
Or did your book write you?
Artist, did you paint that look
In the eye of the portrait watching you
Or are you just a thought in its mind?
If you look, sometimes you will find
That the musician is the instrument
And the song is the conductor of his movement.

And when an architect erects a building
He is only doing so to house therein his restless feelings.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

NATURE SHAPES AND NATURE FORMS

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

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Nature shapes and nature forms
Humans, mountains, seasons, worms
Nature cools and nature warms
Hearts and loves, volcanoes and storms

But stretch out your hand to touch nature
And all you’ll touch are her dorms and norms
For nature herself is hidden from capture
And all we see are her shapes and forms.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

MADIBA

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

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Kindness was his rod
With it he parted the red sea
Kindness was his road
Wide enough for all of humanity

Step forth, step forth, step forth
West, East, South, North.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.