Your brother in the ghetto
Is still your brother –
He might not have attended
The same type of schools as you did
He might not have acquired
The same kind of polish as you did
He might not even know
That you’re not as different from him
As he thinks
He might think
What you think: you’ve become strangers
No. He is still your brother
And when a bullet comes in the dark
It can’t tell the difference between you and you.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
They can’t read
But they can read
The signs on the wall
They can read between the lines
When the educated are talking
They can read your thoughts
In your eyes
When you’re lying to them
They just don’t have the words
To explain that all they need
Is a seed of true knowledge planted
Into their minds when they were young.
Someone has to walk ahead
When others are looking
For someone to follow.
How many generations will fall like
Autumn leaves, wasted beauty?
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Wieder am Main
Nach so vielen Wochen, nein Monaten
In denen ich alles verloren
Und mich gewonnen habe
Und Du, süßes Wasser
Nur Du bleibst mir treu
Unverändert, unverschollen, ohne Seitensprünge
Spiegel meiner unsichtbaren Tiefe
Dennoch hasse ich Dich heute
Weil Du nichts sagst
Du entfernst Dich und bist dennoch da
Ich war’s, der Dich verließ.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Sommer sprudelte
Sprossen blühten
Sommer sprudelte mit deinem Lachen
Jede Blume, die du sprachst
Goß ich doch jede Nacht
Mit den Tränen, die du mir schenktest
Dieser Augenblick, dieser Sommer, dieses Jahr
Kommt nie wieder zurück
Diese Augen, mit denen ich dich sah
Werden nie wieder sehen
Diese Lippen, die dir huldigten
Werden nie wieder sprechen.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
In the ghetto
I get to see
The living me
Watching me with eyes
Wiser than the eyes watching me
Living my thousand lives
While I search in my mind for lies
With which to neutralise
The truth reflected back at me
By the other me.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Where are we rushing to?
Death is waiting at the end anyway
Go there slowly
Enjoy the ride
Take long looks out of the window
Drink in the sunshine
Drown the moon in your soul and laugh
Out loud
Let the passing flower and
The passing cloud leave an impression
Upon your memory.
Pain is our ally when we look for love.
Remember, you will make mistakes
You will hurt the people you love
And they will hurt you back
And Regret will not heal the wounds
Or make anything better
Only worse
But your heart will find its place of peace
Someday
Somewhere
Somehow
Because I love you.
Even when I’m dying, still I love you to the end.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Antwort sucht Klage
Trennung sucht Anziehung
Korrigierung sucht Fehler
So wandere ich suchend durch mein Erdenleben
Und komme nicht auf die Ursache meines Leidens
Ich möchte etwas wieder gut machen
Weiß aber nicht was.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
“Why doth thy finger tremble so,
O Poet, what hast thou done?
Why doth thy finger tremble so,
O Poet, what hast thou done?“
“I’ve journeyed through three human hearts
And written what I saw
I’ve voyaged into hidden parts
Unknown to me before!”
“But human hearts are fragile strung,
So why art thou so shocked?
Said human hearts are fragile strung
Why then dost thou look shocked?”
“The sun is distant, but the heat
It give scarce can be borne…
From farther yet do men’s hearts beat,
More scorching too, their scorn!”
“Wilt thou then walk away from Fate,
O Poet, wilt thou do so?
Wilt thou abandon now thy Fate,
O Poet, to flee thee woe?”
“Atlantis sunk, the Incas died,
The Pharaohs turned to sand,
But poetry outlives time and tide
And Poets will guide the land.”
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Da tauchten sie wieder
Vor mir auf
Fußabdrücke in der Nacht
Einer nach dem anderen…
Wie Lichtblicke führen sie mich
Durch mein Ungewissen
Jedes Verschwinden ist ein verlorener Freund
Eine enttäuschte Hoffnung
Ein gebrochenes Versprechen
Auch ich bin nicht unschuldig.
Jeder Lichtblick ist Empfindung
Ist Fußfassen, Erkenntnis, Gewissen.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
He believed in me
When I look back, I see
Beyond all the memories
Above all the drama
Beneath all the pain
Between all the fun and play
Behind the unbending love
In his smile
That light, that pride, that trust, that wonder
That quiet look that told me
He believed in me.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
