WHO KNOWS?

The tension is mounting
The spring is wound
The wind is waiting
The tornado is forming, is coming
Is come.

Pain is the voice
Of the garden in you
Inviting you to come into it
There to discover the newest treasure
It has prepared for you
Upon its peaks.

How far can you go?
How long can you walk a path?
How come?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

SILENCE WILL ROLL INTO SILENCE

Silence will roll into silence
When your heart, for miles,
Lonely, clothed in the essence
Of sorrow shed in every sense
But one…,
Arises before your countenance
And, despite sorrow, smiles –
Fresh Food for your sustenance,
Fresh impetus for the long distance
You run…

Do you hear the rolling silence?
If you listen and listen hard
To Silence, the deeper bard;
Just listen, listen in hard…
Do you hear the rolling silence?

Silence will roll into silence
When the pain in you
Has crossed the line into convalescence
And the Horizon’s in view.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

UNDERBRUSH

Carry me
Marry me
Madness pain
Sadness moon
Tidal silence be violent
On me

I have seen it all
Love a lie
Hatred a voiceless bond
Treachery a given
Weakness our one true calling
I have seen enough.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

WHY WE SORROW, WHAT WE KNOW

Why we sorrow, what we know
No tomorrow, yet we sow
Because this night, because this night
Because this night
Will crack

Light, light, I see tomorrow
Through a crack so slight and mellow
There’s a tiny track

The pain, though great
Will end.
The rain, though late
The rain, though late
The rain, though late
Shall bend
Our way again, this I know
Though we sorrow, yet we know
We’ll smile again.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

SCANDALOUS

It is love.

You cannot
Mathematize it.

It will
Mesmerize
Scandalize
Legalize
Illegalize

And always leave Questions
Behind.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ACHE

There is in me a longing
For a place
A longing which no place on earth
Can satisfy
Because I long for Home –

There is in me a yearning
For a love
A yearning which no human love
Can satisfy
Because I yearn for the Light –

But, on the other side of
The mountain peak
There is a woman to whom my
Heart belongs…
But there she is, beyond my reach
Just a tear away –

But I do not know how to cry.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

OVER THE MOUNTAINS

Deep music is sailing over the mountains and into the hearts of lonely people far away. Over the mountains – over the mountains – the sight is glorious and gone. Much is gone that was here yesterday. I feel like an old man, waiting to die. But, rather than wait, why don’t I just spread my wings and fly again, like I did when I was young.

The earth is not my home. The earth is not my home, but my way home. Over the mountains, over the mountains, all is happy. It came and went so quickly. But I do not mind. Because what joy did not finish, pain shall. And vice versa.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

AFTER PAIN

And after pain comes joy
If you let the pain have its way
And yet you conquered it

And after pain comes love
If the pain washes you truly clean
And yet you conquered it

And after pain comes life
If you walked hand in hand with pain
And conquered it

Your pain is not stronger than you
You are stronger than it
That is why it tries so hard to hurt you
A little
Because it will not last long

Wait a little longer, baby
Just a little –
Pain is our bridge.
Do you see the morningland
Waving in the distance?

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

ALL THE THINGS THAT THE WORDS DO NOT SAY

I wish I were a painter, to draw the pictures and paint the concepts that words cannot hold – my words. I believe there are greater poets now and ever, better writers, greater wordists, because I’ve tried and tried but still I’ve not succeeded in telling you what I know. I cannot form it in words, I cannot form it in thoughts, I just know it and understand that it is the world of things which the words have never said.

You cannot tell a woman that you love her. The moment you say it, it is gone. You can tell a man the truth, but you cannot tell him what the truth is – only he must find it out for himself one day. You cannot describe beauty in words. Even the beauty of a beautiful poem cannot be put into poetry again. You did it without thinking – and the moment you started thinking, you did not see it again.

Think a little – little thoughts…

A picture is still worth a thousand and one words. A woman wounded me mortally, yet try as I did, I could not explain in words what she did, and yet I know it Clearly.

You can never change anybody but yourself, because you are the one person to whom you can speak without words, always. And once there is truth, then there is nothing more to say. You can only say the truth, my brother, but you cannot make anybody understand. But, take heart… silence teaches the last lesson finally finally finally finally.

All the things that the words do not say, silence says always.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.

PRAY

My pain plays with me
My pain stays with me
My pain prays with me
When I pray…

My pain visits me
My pain kisses me
My pain teaches me
How to pray…

I forget you, I forget me
I have to, because without you and without me
I know no pain, even when I pray.

– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.