Kindness starts by Looking people in the eye And welcoming them whole Into your soul. Those who belong Will come into your gaze, Those whose hearts are wrong Will look sideways. I’m not just talking about The outer look - For the story inside will come out Of the soul’s book When honesty, sincerity and kindness Break through dishonest blindness. A kind gaze can be revealing too When the other person’s heart is not true. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
heart
PUT YOUR HEART INTO EVERYTHING YOU DO
Sometimes, many things you do you do it because you just don’t care. People think you do it, and do it that way, because you don’t know how to do it or you don’t know what to do.
They don’t know that you simply really just don’t care if it works or not, because it is not what you really want. You’re just doing it out of boredom and because it is available, and because you just have to do something to while away the time while you’re waiting for what you really want.
But that thing you really want, that thing you are waiting for, might never ever come.
So, why don’t you do well what you’re doing now; because in the end it might be the only thing you ever really got to do.
Love, put your heart into everything you do.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
HOW FEELINGS CHANGE
Strange How feelings change The heart is a shooting range The things that die They don’t tell you why They just stop to cry. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
NEVER STOP
Don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid
To follow your heart and go for your love;
Rejection can shatter the plans best laid –
The important thing is that your heart did move
And you moved outwardly along with this inner motion,
For movement is the spirit’s most important need –
It will climb every mountain and cross every ocean
Until it has itself from all its shackles freed.
The soul will always love something or someone,
And this love will make it laugh and make it bleed
And make it outgrow itself and never be done,
Following the path Home wherever it may lead.
Some chapters end in joy, and some end in sorrow,
But neither of these can hold the spirit down forever –
An inner restlessness will grip it again tomorrow;
Until it gets back Home, it will never stop. Never.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river
THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
Free yourself of the fear of losing her Free yourself of the thought of having Or not having her That’s not for you to control or decide Only God has that Power The only power you have is the power of love All you can do is to love her Love is life and Love is light If you have love in your heart for her Then just love her And if you have no way of directly giving Or showing that love to her Then just let the love flow through you And flow out of you And flow out into the universe… Your love will find its way to her In the workings of the universe One way or another. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Undulating Plains and Poems from the inner river
INDEPENDENT HEART
I never knew the heart was an independent thing Until I met you and my heart started to sing And to fly towards you with unfolded wings And to ignore me when I called it back But has continued to you to cling And to me aching and longing to bring And to say This is the Queen for you my King. And continues to ignore me when I call it back. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS THE LIGHT OF THE HEART
Love is a light It illumines the heart And makes it bright And it is light Like a winged cart Rising to the height Love is a chart It always goes right Right from the start Love is the highest art Love is the deepest light Of which Happiness is a part. Love is the light of the heart Love is the happiness of the heart Love is the strength of the heart. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
IT’S A HUMAN HEART
It’s winter You’ll have warmer days And you’ll have colder days But they’ll all be cold. It’s a human heart You’ll have clearer days And you’ll have uncertain moments But still, be bold. It’s an Earth life You came to cry And you came to laugh And maybe grow old. The people you love the most Will cause you the most pain And yet they’re the only ones Your heart will want to hold. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TRUST IS THE MESSAGE OF TRUTH
One thing I know about life: you tell the truth to the person you truly love, to your soulmate. You feel enough trust and empathy, and you have the strong craving, to share the truth, the real naked truth, with them. People who are not able to tell you the truth are telling you that they don’t really have a deep place for you in their heart. This is a painful recognition to have, but a necessary one too. It helps you to protect yourself from deeper hurt and from new hurt in the future.
Trust is the message of Truth. As long as truthfulness is not coming from helplessness and desperation, then it is on the one hand a sign of respect, and on the other hand it is the ultimate admission of safety, intimacy and trust. You know the people you trust by the secrets you feel comfortable sharing with them. And you know the people who don’t trust you by the secrets they hold back from you. These are the people who are not close to you, no matter how close to you they seem to be. Veracity is the test – and the taste – of intimacy.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Undulating Plains
EVENING BLUES
Accept your loss Only God is the boss Many rivers to cross To get to the real Us What a quiet evening you are Your inner voice carries far Riding quietly in the back of the car My listening heart is ajar. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 