There’s a reason why it’s called Eternal Life,
Not perpetual snooze or eternal sleep.
Stop saying “rest in peace”
to those who have left the earth for the afterlife.
Wish them instead a safe journey
And Joyful luminous activity
For all eternity.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
#poemsthatmakeyouthink
No, I do not want to rest in peace. And when my body dies and I, the spirit, move on, please do not wish me to rest in peace. If you love me, wish me activity – joyful activity. Because, believe it or not, life goes on. I was me when I was on earth; I want to remain me when I leave the earth – an explorer. An experiencer. An adventurer.
Nobody steps off a plane after a journey just to slump into the ground and rest in peace. Nobody arrives in an interesting new place just to close their eyes and become inactive. And when you cross over onto the other side, you will become seized with wanderlust, an overpowering restlessness. You will want to explore, to follow the pull of that invisible magnet drawing you somewhere.
Only the inwardly indolent, the weak and the lethargic come to rest – but not in peace. Motionlessness is torture.
The departed do not rest in peace. They set off on a journey to a better or a worse place. Or they hang around, dissatisfied ghosts, trapped in inner space or bound to the unsatisfying earth. And sometimes they are so lethargic, they just lie down and wait for the torturous sleep of eternal death. But they shall not rest in peace.
Eternity is for the living, the inwardly mobile, the spiritually active. It is the land of perpetual motion and joyful activity. That is why it is called Eternal LIFE.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Joy is my elixir
Sorrow is my muse
When one is not there
The other I use
The mountain-top of poverty
Will give you a clear view
Into the character of humanity
And make a sage of you
The dark depths of wealth
Will expose you to propensity
To indulge in all things that tempt
And to understand vanity
You will see needy nations
Full of natural born resources
Of lazy corrupted wasted generations
Raining on each other backward curses
You will see greedy nations
With the mastery of bright inventions
Choose instead to perfect division
And to invent and sell deadly weapons
You will see great minds
Of science, religion and philosophy
Brainwashing weaker minds
Into believing everyone different is their enemy
You will feel the cold power of politics
In high and low places
And learn to respect the simplest tricks
For they win the most complex races
You will despair and turn to the dark side
And hear its mocking laughter
You will look for the light far and wide
And severity will be its answer
Illness will teach you
That your body is not all of you
There is eternal life inside of you
It is the real you
And you will learn from disgrace
How fickle are our human ways
When you’re up they’re quick to praise
And quick to damn you in your fallen days
Wonder above wonder
The flight of technology
Cannot take you any further
Than truth, hope and simplicity
Trust is still a riddle
Treachery a talking drum
Death still waits in the middle
Of the life you can’t escape from
Only love, only love will understand
And bring you strength and succour
Even as it holds in its tender hand
A little joy, a little sorrow
The power to open our eyes
To the little acts of kindness
That tower above parochial ties
And cure the heart of its blindness
To civilise joy with purpose
And pacify pain with message
For just as poetry elevates prose
Goodness preserves youth in age
Some bend the word
To achieve selfish aims
Diplomacy becomes their sword
So who are we to blame?
Joy is my elixir
Sorrow is my muse
When one is not there
The other I use.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 