If you keep it free and open
It will find a friend
It will make a headway into
Yet another start
If you act like you were rhyming
Though you’re far from it
Those who dance along will wander
Why no-one else hears
The masterpiece within the picture,
Why nobody feels
The music in the melody
The magic in the air.
—————
che chidi chukwumerije
—————
The story you told in the west
Is not identical
With the laughter you laughed in the north
Nor with the song you sang in the south
Nor with the thoughts you expressed in the east…
The language you spoke on the mountain
Is very different
From the tongue you mouthed in the valley
And from the violins you bowed through the woods
And the ballad you composed upon the blue-green meadows…
The roar you let out as you charged past us
Has a different meaning
From the groan the desert drew out of you;
And the whisper which you sighed in this grateful heart
Is not the same cry with which you flow into the sea.
– 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.
I see you in this moment as a river, flowing out.
If you touch it, it makes your fingers wet. If you drink it, you get thirstier. If you watch it, you never come to find out its wherefrom or whereto. If you dive in, it takes you to a place from which you can’t return.
So you have to be strong, and outriver the river and outthirst your thirst, for the river flows in you.
And if these words mystify you, then you understand the effect you have on many people.
But when you dive in, dive deep into the river’s bed and clench its roots with your teeth and bite, so hard, that it bleeds. Then will you see the river run…
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 