It‘s not the outer age, It‘s the inner Spirit and Sage That determines superiority. It’s neither youth nor ignorance But lack of humility That determines inferiority. We are not of sand and dust We are spirit and immortal ghost Marching towards eternity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
maturity
DON’T BE DISTRACTED BY INSULTS
Be ready to forgive insults Even before they come Knowing they will come From children and adults Who are a part of your way For this too is a part of the way You must travel to get results. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
LIGHTRISE
When more than the sun rises
And more than the moon is full
When enlightenment itself materialises
Upon and within your soul
When you awaken in the deepest sense
And the light of your spirit fills your eyes
Then shall you experience
The dawn of the morning Lightrise.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije
SOVEREIGNTY
Sovereignty is a state of the spirit
It is an inner attitude
A highness of mind
A quality of the soul
It is the expression of a sense of responsibility
If you don‘t mature into it inwardly
You will seek it outwardly in vain.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
ROW YOUR BOAT
Do you see
Those two boats
On the river?
Two brothers
Will row, side by side
Into the sunset.
One will dock
On the golden banks
While the other
Will row on
And they will wave
Goodbye to each other.
This is the way
Of the world
Of love and loss
Of meeting and parting
Of friendship and memory
Of life and death.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Picture:
My brother Kwame and I
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
1995
A few weeks later, he passed on in a car accident.
This was our last picture together.
SECRETS AND MATURITY
The trauma of her upbringing
Shook her soul awake
Like a rough wind in a sudden spring
Rids bare branches of snow and brake
With a shock, with a shock, she thawed stood
A girl with the wisdom of womanhood.
What secrets does she hide inside
Behind her smile, behind her mask?
Her classmates many times have tried
But somehow just not dared to ask.
Whatever their sorrows, she holds their hands
And all can sense that she understands.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 