Once you taste true love Lust becomes a mechanical chore Pleasure is no longer enough You want something more. You learn to recognise the grain And separate it from the chaff - You want to feel that joy again You want your heart to laugh. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
heart
I DREAM EVERY TIME I FALL ASLEEP
I dream every time I fall asleep And it’s always one adventure or the other; Conversations with beloveds I keep, My best friend, my father, my brother, And strangers too with whom I laugh and weep And fight and love and comfort one another; The dangers are real, the emotions are deep, Every fear, every tear, every worry and bother; At times I weightless fly, or I burdened creep, Through encounters that liberate or smother, But I’m always conscious even in the Deep, As awake as a baby born out of its mother. For I have vows to keep and sowed seeds to reap - And before it gets lighter it will get darker - And miles to go and never really sleep. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
THE POWER IN THE COURAGE TO BE TRUTHFUL
Truth is so powerful. There is almost nothing That you cannot forgive a truthful person. It’s a strange phenomenon. What is hurting You is healing you, is teaching you a lesson. Even while suffering, you can’t stop trusting. Something about them awakens respect in us. Truthful people fascinate the coward in us, Inspire the warrior in us, touch the human in us. In the depth of their sin, yet they carry the cross. Even at their worst, they’re still the best of us. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
BELIEVE YOUR HEART
Believe your heart, It does not lie; Let it be your chart and your Why - Why you believe or disbelieve a story; Why in all things you give God the glory; Why you wake up and get up And dress up and show up Morning after morning after morning Like the sun always returning every morning. Why you remember the sun and look up And drink renewal from the Grail Cup. Follow your heart, no matter where it may roam - It is like a magic chart that knows the way home. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
HURT
Love hurts. Life hurts. People hurt. People hurt people. And hurt people hurt people. And when it hurts too much People begin to avoid the touch The inner touch Sometimes they permit the outer touch But only perfunctorily as such Because even it hurts too much. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE IS REAL
Love is real And rare And it’s a big deal In here Where we feel And care And hurt and heal And share. To steal the heart Is to seal the heart And throw the key away Forever minus a day. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LOVE HURTS
If love hasn’t driven you mad Then you’ve never felt love before If love hasn’t made you unbearably sad Then love has not yet pierced your core If love hasn’t tested the line you had Between the good and the bad and fundamentally changed you forevermore, Then yours isn’t love, just a lore. And the most astounding part Is the dull ache somewhere in your heart and the cold ashes that remain when you walk down memory lane. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
A HEART FULL OF MEMORIES
We came we went And the time spent Was like a drop of memory In a few people’s story Who themselves are gone too And, if not yet gone, are going too. If you have a heart Now is when to start Keeping record in there Of what you’re doing here On this planet distant and blue - Your memories are for you. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
UNMISSING
You stole my heart But when you gave it back It was no longer a part Of the things that I lack. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
TRUTH IS FOR THE BLIND
Only the blind can speak the truth Caring not where it lands Seeing not where it opens wounds Even in one’s Beloved’s own hands Only the blind can follow the truth Minding not where it leads Seeing not that an abyss sometimes looms For people, like themself, of honest deeds Only the blind can bear the truth Unbothered by its origin Seeing not the size of the mountain it moves Or the people and things it’s crushing Only the blind can see the truth No matter how bright and blinding its light For the truth-loving heart is forever full Of bold and unfailing insight. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 