SENSE OF TASTE

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

There is no easy way
To walk through every valley
Without tasting any fruit
Without tasting any fruit

Propensity plays a gentle lute
Curiousity owns a magic flute
Temptation gnaws at your root
Intuition is loud, intuition is mute.

Who can know without taking a bite?
Who can grow without experiencing the night?
Some nights will yield the day
Some nights will kill the day

When does a want become a need?
When does a hunger morph into greed?
Is a sin a fruit or a seed?
A thought is sometimes worse than a deed.

There is a green hill far away
Your feet are confused: to go or to stay?
Who can walk through the valley of the root
Without tasting any fruit?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

UNSICHER

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Du hast meine Wunde aufgeleckt
Und den Zeigefinger hineingesteckt
Ohne es zu wissen

Vertrautes, zu intim zu teilen
Inniges, zu unerreichbar zu heilen
Verschlossen im Gewissen

Um Ernsteres zu bewachen
Verwendet man viel Lachen
Hin und her gerissen

So lautet die Frage bei jeder Begegnung
Von Schüchternheit und Erregung:
Tschüß sagen oder küssen?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

NEVER STOP SEEKING THE GRAIL

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Works that stay
And show the way
To travelling spirits
On the right road
Long after I myself have passed
This way.

Not works of vanity
Nor dance of insanity
But honesty to my spirit
Who drank whilst thirsty
And knows the source of eternal water
The Grail’s Fountain.

Some seek politics
Some seek academics
Some believe in race issues
Some ideology or religion
And many will seek only pleasure
And self.

But through history
An inner mystery
Occupies all human spirits
It doesn’t die or fade –
The urge to know the true meaning of
The chalice, the stone, the mystery, the fountain,
The beginning, the origin, the genesis, the portal, the Grail.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ENTWIRRUNG

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

Nach dem Gefecht eines dornigen Tages
Dicht an Streit, Politik, Geld und Gelten
Bleibt mir nur Feines – für manche, Vages –
Als Ausgleich aus Sepiainnenwelten

Ein paar Strähne des Dichtens
Ein Gemälde, Melodien, eine Geschichte
Parallelraum des feinfühligen Sichtens
Durch das Leichteste aller Gewichte

Töte mich, Poesie, und bring mich neu zur Welt
Seelenverliebt, verwirrt und neu geboren
Entkleide schnell, was mir tagsüber gefällt
Lass wirken, was Innen schlief, verloren.

Wozu denn dieser ganze glatte Fortschritt
Der aus uns lauter leere Hüllen macht?
Jedes Leid ist seines Glückes Schmied
Und den Tag versüßt die Nacht.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

UNSMILED SMILES

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

So the sun is yellow today
See that?
There – above the dark grey clouds
Beyond the mists and fog –
See that?
There – outside the boundary of your brooding thoughts
Beyond the clutches of your sorrow
If you look through your depression –
So plain to see,
The corner of your unsmiled smiles
Tugging at your lips
Lifting your lids – look, look
Above the tree tops in the jungle of your sadness –
Don’t you see?
The sun is golden yellow today.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ZURÜCKWEISUNG

~ Che ~ 3 Comments

Papa, wo bist du?
Ich wollte doch nur einmal
Mit eigenen Augen die Welt sehen
Erforschen mein eigenes Schicksal
Nicht von dir ewig weggehen

Mama, wo bist du?
Ich wollte doch nur einmal
Dich und deine Welt kennen lernen
Allen Zweifel, alles Unwissen, allen Trübsal
Überzeugt von mir entfernen

Jetzt bin ich endlich da
Und ihr beide sichtbar verschwunden
Auf versuchte Heilung
Folgen unerwartete Wunden.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

BITTER BREAD

~ Che ~ 6 Comments

When they seek bread
You hesitate to speak
Of the bread of life

For they look you in the eye
And say
Can’t you see that I’m hungry?

How can you make
The spirit strong
When the body is still so weak?

And so you fall silent
And wait with the rest,
For the rest, in peace…

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

KEEP THE FAITH

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

There will be brief sudden moments
Of big aching dreams, they will
Tear you out of darkest despair
Remind you of the throbbing urge
That is your second heart.

An unexpected warm sunny day in winter
That seems to say: Shivering spark, I am
Summer’s promise sent ahead of time
An emissary of hope, here to remind
You to keep the faith.

Strengthened by quietness
You face the dark, and you laugh
And you say: Deep, you are my cocoon
The womb of midnight wonder, from which
I shall emerge, your secret butterfly.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

DIE WEITERREISE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Ist mit dem Tode alles aus?
Oder war der Körper doch nur ein sicheres Haus
Das, einst in sich zusammen gebrochen,
Der Bewohner rechnungtragend verlassen muss
Nach Jahrzehnten, Jahren, Monaten, Wochen…
Zum Weiterwandern alleine zu Fuss?

Wie viele Reisende pausieren gerade?
Kaum Einer schaut noch auf seiner Landkarte.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

SUBTLE TIES

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

He was my best friend
Yet when we parted
None gave news to the other
Of the path he charted

Where one went high
The other went low
And where one learned to lead
The other learned to follow.

She was a wild flower
But deep in her soul
She was a gentle morning
That made people whole

She fell in love with one
Then met the other
And fell for him too
Like he was her lover

Torn between a leader
And a follower
She learned with surprise that the higher
Is indistinguishable from the lower

The hunter is the hunted
The writer is the reader
The leader and the follower
Are both follower and leader.

He was my best friend
And though we walked separate ways
Destiny brought us together
Back to the same place.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.