CHERISHED TIMES

The end is always hard.
Who can part
With the scene of his true living?
We spend our lives dying –
If ever we did anywhere anytime
For a moment live,
Who can with this moment part
From this scene depart
Without a tear?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije

RENEWAL

Every end is a bend

Every conclusion is a transition
Every termination is a transformation

The terminal
Is diurnal

Life means undeath
Unsheath the wreath
Catch your eternal breath

My friend.

– che chidi chukwumerije

THE END MUST BE STRONG

The end must be strong
Or it will not be satisfied with itself
Shall return again
And again
Demanding to be ended…

The end that drags out must be allowed to drag out
That way we shall never forget
It is imprinted, chiselled, branded prime-deeply
Into heart and mind
Unforgettable, memorable, forever recognisable
Never to be dared again.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

GOODBYE, LAUGHTER

Have you ever listened to
The night talking to itself
While you lay there beside one another
And not a word occurred to you?

You see the end approaching
Like a boat coming to the shore
To take you away
Away from a laughter called love

And as your worlds drift apart
In the space of one short night
Strange, but no words occur to you
To adequately say goodbye.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

THE BREAK-UP

The worst pain I ever felt
Was once when I embraced someone
And my embrace, she said,
Made her think of someone else.

Some things you should keep to yourself,
Yet it’s better when they’re spoken out
And it’s best of all when they hurt like hell.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WINDOWS OPENING

Windows are opening out of
And into my soul
Like trap-doors trapping out
And waterfalls falling down
And flowers flowering forever away
From night to day
And wailing winds unafraid of me
Of whom I am not afraid
And wishing pains and painful wishes
And undying longings and the longing for immortality
And this poem, like this strange year, is finished.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

TRUE COLOURS

Every tree eventually
Bears its fruit
Look not for reason
Wait just for its season

Long is the wait when
Deep is the root
You don’t know your friend
Until the end.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.