A lonely sunset bird walked home
We watched him go
Then we strolled until we came to the field
The empty field
The barren field
There the old man stopped and pointed
It used to be a forest once
We felled the trees, to make of it a garden
But someone forgot to plant the seeds
The rains, they came in vain
Washed away
And now the sun burns away –
And as we strolled away again he said
That field is another wasted generation
That fruitless field.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Das war kein gewöhnlicher Fluß
In den du tauchtest, in dem du schwimmst
Das war mein Schmerz
Das war keine gewöhnliche Melodie
Die dich so tief ergriff
Das war in mir die Hoffnung.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
The touch was much more than touch
Happiness, when it speaks, doesn’t say much
A passing thought almost crosses your mind
It leaves a warming ache behind
To share is to increase your share
Especially when there is nothing there
Happiness is a quiet guest
Peace in a castle, bird in a nest.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
They are nice masters
In this regard she is lucky, I guess
They make her feel at home
When she cooks and cleans
Sings to the baby, feeds the dogs
And the cats and is allowed to watch TV
But when she gets home in the evening
Without electricity, it’s a marvel to her
In the midst of her poverty, to see the joy
In her family’s eyes and to be at home again.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Ich stoße Menschen von mir ab
Halte meine Einsamkeit im Trab
Nehm mein Alleinsein mit ins Grab
Dein Unverständnis schützet mich
Freundschaft war tief, ein Spatenstich
Dolchstöße rein für Dich, mein Ich
Dann war alles nur Saitensprung
Wer weiter tanzt, der ist noch jung
Wo bleibst Du, stolze Dämmerung?
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Everyday she printed dust on feet
Earlier than sunrise
She was a surprise
To every sleeping wanderer she will meet
On her way to the well, wishing well,
An empty bucket on her head
One more in each hand that bled
On her way to hell
The well, the well is dry
It is dry, barren, unresponsive
The less you get, the more you give
The desert will never cry
Every evening she dusts her way home
Not a drop of water
To herself she will mutter
Soliloquy on when the rain will come.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
I saw a departed soul
There
On the other side of the river
Yet there is no bridge
Across the river
So how did he get there?
How did he cross to the other
Side of the river
River, river, flowing home
Bathed in the mild glows of
The fields across
The river
Stood a soul
And he said, Brother
Goodbye…
River, river, flowing, going home.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Zwei Schritte vor
Einen zurück
Heute ist nicht
Tag genug
Nur Herz hat
Herz genug für Verstand
Langsamkeit, Schatz
Ist der Boden
Ist allein Boden genug
Wenn die Liebe es so eilig hat.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
My eyelids are falling
Like felled trees in the forest
My words are milky like drunken clouds
My breathing is slow and heavy like
A market woman’s feet in the evening
I am sleepy, drowsy, swimming and
I am about to fall awake –
Do you think I’m dreaming right now?
I can’t tell the difference
Do I write poems in my dreams
And forget when I awake?
The dream is the poem, a poem is a dream
I must leave you behind in the dream now, my love
Where my words will live on while
I wake asleep in the morning, in the morning.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
They call you many things
Name-calling is a game of stones
Hydra-headed mad woman chattering away
Away noisily to the sea – come to me, let me be
My own jam-packed contradiction.
Let’s take a stroll from the desert to the sea shore.
Before you get there, you will have to heal
The sick and the infirm, educate
The ignorant, the uninformed, the misinformed, the rudderless, help
The needy, house
The homeless, don’t forget
The aged, the retired, give money to
The poor, awaken hope
In the despairing along the long way to Africa’s destination.
Dictators and cabals raise hell
Entertainers and fanatics raise the roof
And the corrupt raise the cost of life –
We’ve had enough of them all
Let’s raise our standard of living.
There can never be freedom, never
Be peace, nor security, in a system that nurtures
The endemic poverty of this
Many people.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
