It‘s character that gets to heaven, not knowledge. Knowledge might know the way there even, but only character can attain the height of being, by doing, not just by knowing. Be right, do right, lets there be light. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
knowledge
START
Energy does not help you to get up
But getting up helps you to get energy
Which in turn helps you to get higher up
You cannot have wisdom before you travel
You need to travel to acquire wisdom
Which in turn makes you a better traveller
Before you know, you cannot believe
It is knowledge that births belief and conviction
Which in turn opens up the way to higher knowledge
And what is the point of this recognition?
Ignorance and weakness are not an excuse
Just start with what you have
And what you need will come to you.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
WAKE UP BEFORE THE FIGHT, NOT AFTER
That, for which you need the knowledge you got out of the lesson, is already gone and done, has already happened.
There are some things that need to happen in order for certain lessons to be learned and pieces of knowledge acquired. It would have been better if the recognition had been won, or already rested in one’s possession, before the onset of the event; because actually the knowledge was needed to be able to handle the event properly. Instead, the event has become the bringer and the teacher of the knowledge which can no longer be used to prevent, manage or correct that same event.
What sad, poignant, irony! Now you have the knowledge, but it is useless for the purpose for which it was meant to be used in your life. You grow old just to learn the value of youth. You become a foreigner just to learn the value of being a native. You die just learn the value of life. You ignore advice only to understand its value when it is too late to use it anymore. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
So when are you going to make use of this new knowledge now? You will get your chance when you come again in another life. But will you remember, somewhere deep down in your soul, what you are painfully learning today? Do you remember, deep down in your soul, what you once painfully learned in another life? Go deep inside. Read it again. Read it again. Your soul is a book. And you the spirit are its author.
Always wake up before the fight – not after!
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
HUMILITY
The mystery of the Grail
The higher you go, the less worthy you feel
And when you get to the Top
You drop.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
PLAYGROUNDS
There is evil in the air
It chokes your breath in unexpected places
A playground, full of hard adult eyes
Watching, and avoiding, each other
While playing children loudly try
To shout the intruders merrily out –
One by one each parent
Picks up its child and hurries home
Away from this place
And no-one can say really why
The world became like this
Or when. It’s the future, and we’re there.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS RESISTANCE
No master gon’ willingly let a slave go
No oppressor gon’ willingly let the oppressed rise to his level
If you wan’ freedom, you gon’ take a blow!
The loss of property and means
The loss of power
The loss of status
Yea, the loss of status
Hurts like hell.
When you rise, it means that
Someone else is no longer higher
Than you and has to stomach that –
Remember that.
You gon’ pay a heavy price
Because everyone around you
Knows the value
Of self—elevation, knowledge and freedom
They will make you pay for it
If you’re really worth it.
The price of your freedom is their resistance.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
UNRECONCILED
I know they get in your way
They try to tell you we don’t belong together
They force you to lead a parallel existence
We’re living double lives
But behold a paradox:
In the lakes of their knowledge
You came up ignorant
In the garden of your ignorance
They found the seeds of knowledge
Who reinvented you?
Someone surely did
And it certainly wasn’t you.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
AGAIN I DREAMT I WAS UNSATISFIED
I looked around and thought
No, this too is not my home
It’s time to move on
Then a voice from inside me asked
Where then is your home?
How long will you keep on
Moving on?
And I answered: I do not know.
I do not remember my home
But when I get there
I will know it –
That is why I keep on moving on.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
KNOWLEDGE
Conscience = con science = with knowledge
In your conscience
You know
The difference between
Right and wrong.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
CONSCIENCE
Brave fool
You spoke the truth
Now it’s fallen off your shoulder
Breathe easy
When you look into the distance
Your eyes aren’t distracted by your thoughts
You see the observant trees
The bird minding its business
For your conscience is clear
Heavy is the hand that holds the knife
That strikes you down
Heavy is not thine heart. It is light.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 