There I saw a lion
With the eyes of a rose
Calmly it watched me
As I froze
It approached me, circled me
And seemed undecided
It scared me and thrilled me
And I was divided
Should I draw a knife
And the lion oppose
Or should I yield my heart
To the rose?
Then it turned around
And it was a woman
Knowingly she smiled
And looked only human.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Do you hear that wailing?
Somebody is dead next door
Someone is left behind and weeping
Behind heaven’s closed door
Another earthlife is ended forevermore
Quietly I watch the lights of the siren
As they grow brighter in the distance
Soon they cover up my neighbour’s silent scream
Then all grows quiet for one instance
Death welcomes every circumstance
I know that couple next door
They never failed to say hello
Now one of them I will hear nevermore
But whenever I see the other’s sorrow
I will smile and say, gently, hello.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
No, my love, my passion
Did not run astray
I was the ocean
Washed up on many a needing bay.
The furrows of your frown
The wrinkles of your smile
Handlebars holding me down
For a short – only a short, fulgurant – while.
Wide wide inviting shore
I came in only once
Sometimes I yearn for more
When I’m far away under foreign suns.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Your silence deafens music
The songs don’t move me anymore
But to tears
Your absence ‘tis so loud
Woke me up with a jolt last night
And your emptiness shivered
And I recalled your poems by name
The rain, cheeky, in your hair
The palm wine melody line of dancing pain
It is our way
To do the things that cause us pain
And then share the pain with each other.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Bold of heart and stonecold must you be
And extraordinary too, gentle one
If in these days the bad news on TV
Doesn’t strike fear into that heart of yours!
Because mankind is still not free.
But listen, listen to me now, lamb and dove
The hour approaches when on a dark empty street
You shall be the last lantern still shinning as from above
And no-one, not even you, will understand fully why
In these days of hatred your heart grows stronger with human love.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Watch that hatred bang
Its head on the wall
Watch it struggle against a bridge
Over a gorge, dig a hole and fall
Hear it, baffled, ponder into the night.
The middle is thinning out into left and right
I know you don’t believe in the light
Because it’s hard to believe in something
You don’t understand –
It’s safer to hate in numbers
For the logic of hatred is easy to comprehend
Only a few will be left standing
After love has conquered the land.
Tread soft, haters, you’re walking on quicksand.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Love, mountain of salvation
For human and every nation
Fountain of water of life
In every joy and every strife
School for the commencement of tomorrow
Full of fulfilment, free of sorrow
So if I had another chance
I’d do it all again
For without this rhythmn, this chant, this dance
Life’s sure a lane, but a lonely lane.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije,
May 1990.
Her submission was gentle
Like the admission of a lie
With head bent down
And a whisp of shame on her lips
At first she refused to move her hips
And for a long time her eyes were closed
And yet, without saying a word
Or moving an inch, tenderly
Like the tide rolls in
She shed the finer layers of her skin
And let me in.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Beautiful is the song of siring
In haunts of wanting
In gaunt bellies of starving need
My roots will ravish your burning greed
And then turn again, midnight
And accept the other side of the sun
Thrust out the other cheek
And if it hurts, let the pain make you weak
The weak will inherit the night
And the strong will be on their knees
Begging for more of yesterday
No to power, yes to play.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Wait for the knocking of the carpenter
For it won’t be long
Lovingly building that cradle, soft of hay
It will be rocked by a virgin’s song
But a prouder man, a truer man
Will watch over the smile of a radiant star
– Then, lonely earth spirit, light up your heart
For Christmas is no longer far.
And if you think deeper, you will realise
He did not come to die, but to open up our eyes
To Life, to love, to a new reason to strive.
Breathe again, wilted human flowers – and rise…
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 