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LIVE, PAIN, LOVE

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

It’s just life
No pause
Inescapable laws

No brakes
No breaks
No breaking out – you’re done in

Few gives, few takes
The dark is near
It is in there

It’s always there
It’s just life
You pay the price – that’s your role

There is a myth, a legend
A hurt-filled, painful, word
They call it love

There are no guarantees
But they say
It will set you free – nothing more

It won’t bring you wealth
It won’t bring you power
It’s just life

Keep it warm
Keep it safe
Keep it alive – love – it’ll keep you alive.

– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.

MAY SONG

~ Che ~ 11 Comments

The children come out to play
And all is happy and gay
In the month of May.

The farmers make their hay
In the shinning sun’s ray.

Hand in hand as they go their way
Young lovers whisper what they have to say
On their way to hear the new priest pray.

And following the song of the stock-bird jay
Gentle old couples of yesterday
Quietly remember their youth today.

The essentials will stay
When all else goes away.

This is the song in the heart of May.

– che chidi chukwumerije.

GREATNESS AND SMALLNESS

~ Che ~ 6 Comments

How great
Is the greatest man
If he cannot even carry a bucket of water
To his thirsty friend?
If he cannot even put a broom in his hand
And sweep the dustied driveway
With humility of heart?

How great
Is the greatest woman
If she cannot even say hello
To a person she deems to be a class lower?
If she cannot ignore the supposed mockery
Of soceity for the sake of a moment
Of truthfulness to herself?

How great is greatness
If it has no humility?

Even smallness
Is greater
Than such greatness.

– che chidi chukwumerije.

HEART TOUCH

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

Twice I touched her heart
So she cried

Once she cried
And then she cried no more.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

HE WAS A WEIGHTLIFTER

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

A monster of a man
World on his shoulders
Yet fragile is his heart
Go easy on him

He will lift world records
With muscle-rippling ease
But a heavy heart, a broken heart
Will weigh him down

His ego is no bigger than yours
And when he cuddles his little baby
His arms are just as gentle
Trembling hands, subtle fingers

He was a weightlifter
Now he’s down, leaden of heart –
Who will be the one to
Stroke his head and gently lift him up?

He is light as a feather if you ease his pain
Easy like a Sunday morning
Will melt in your hands like butter
Fly with you to the midnight moon, effortlessly.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Elementary particles
You and I
And our every thought of kindness
Wrapped up in temporary blindness
The thought will go
But the kindness in its heart will remain timeless.

Thousands of years later
Geologists can tell you where
A river once flowed.
Such is the parable of human hearts
And the tracks of our tears
And the marks we leave in each others’ lives.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

BABY

~ Che ~ Leave a comment

He’s lying in the midst of his toys
And what language do they speak
To one another? They seem to understand
Each other. It’s his smile
That makes me strong.

I’m glad he can’t interpret my frown
When I look out of the window
Into the world, into the times –
Yes I’m glad for him
Let him store happiness in his heart today.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije..

APRIL

~ Che ~ 1 Comment

Her glance was taffeta
Smoothed down my trembling hands
Smoothed down my trembling hands
Oh morning glory
Oh these tremors have passed and
I’m asleep again on a Saturday morning
In the birth cradle of April.

Fresh rain, burgundy tears sprinkle sun, sprinkle dawn
Rainbows, silver and gold fingers
Then palmgreen sprouting hope hope
Then palmgreen sprouting hope.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WAVING GOODBYE

~ Che ~ 2 Comments

When I started to interact with you
Little did I understand
That true friendship is an addiction
Too hurtful for lonely people

Metamorphosis from yesterday’s amnesia
To today’s cage of painful memories
Was like dawn that swiftly recedes
Unobserved.

The numbing melody of a thousand shards
Crashing to the splintered ground
Is a sad song
Yet I must dance alone.

Life has petalled pain
With the scent of a red rose
A caged rainbow beats in my chest
Like Harmattan waving goodbye to the rains.

-Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

KINDNESS BEYOND POETRY

~ Che ~ 4 Comments

Be kind to people
Let kindness be your all, your strength, your gift
Your highest art-form, beyond craft
For you are human

Kindness is life
Kindness is the root of eternity smile
Kindness can move mountains
Can conquer pain
Gives us comfort in our hour of desolation
Kind eyes keep the heart alive

Kindness conquered me
Let kindness conquer you too
Become a servant of kindness
Become a master of hearts.

The naïve are not always naïve
Sometimes they are simply grateful to kindness
For kindness shown and kindness received
And now they too are passing kindness on to others
For one who has been saved by kindness
Will serve kindness evermore

Nothing sets a human heart free
Like the heartbeats of kindness deep within
Sometimes it’s difficult, sometimes it’s easy
Sometimes you forget, sometimes you remember

And in the moment of your death
It will be your acts of Unkindness that haunt you
And make you long for another life, another chance…

And it will be your acts of kindness
And the acts of kindness shown to you
That comfort you, give you hope
And show you the way into life after death

You are not alone.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.