In the morning when the sun arises A light shall also dawn within you, A clarity that intrinsically recognises What on Earth you are supposed to do - To awaken to service to the good, For kindness, honesty, courage and humility Are life’s deeper nourishment and food And the template of humanity. Che Chidi Chukwumerije Poems from the inner river
service
HEAVEN
To serve God, humbly and quietly
Without pomp and pageantry
Is Heaven.
Modestly and consistently,
With conviction, gratefully.
Expecting no reward,
No recognition, no award –
Because the joy of service
Is reward enough –
Is Heaven.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije
NEO-AFRICANISM
Nigeria has not yet had a Nigerian President. South Africa has had many Presidents, but only Nelson Mandela was a South African President. The others, before and after him, white and black, have all been just sectional leaders. Africa has had very very few AFRICAN leaders-of-state, Pan-African heads of government. Selfless father-figures and servants who are a father to all and a mother to all, regardless of ethnic or religious affiliation.
Why? Because it is not easy. It is not easy to place loyalty to high ideals above loyalty to tribe, religion, family and every thing else. When people come campaigning for votes and popularity, and they claim they will be „President of everybody“, „there will be no sacred cows“, they will be „everybody‘s friend and nobody‘s friend“, „everybody will be equal under the law“, they will rise above „tribalism and religious chauvinism“, they will not favour „their side above any other side“, etc etc etc…
Look at them carefully or just wait for it. In time, they have almost always turned out to be just a Big Fraud.
Why? Because it is not easy. Deep in their heart, everyone loves their ethnic nationality, their religion, their spiritual philosophy, their origin. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It is normal and healthy. The question is: WHO loves the Truth and Justice MORE than he or she loves ANY OTHER THING? That is the Point. Who, above loving his tribe or faith, loves the progress of the Whole more than any other thing.
Not everybody is born to be a leader at the highest levels. Many are good enough to be administrators or guides or governors at lower- and mid-levels of groupings. But at the highest levels, only those human beings should qualify who have made the transition from healthy love of self to healthy love for all.
It is not easy. It requires honest and painful soul-searching. It requires self-unmasking experiencing. It requires self-conquest. It requires, not self-abnegation (for you cannot deny who you are, and anyone who denies who he or she is, is a liar or is still in the process of finding himself). It requires Ennoblement and Maturity. It requires elevation into Selfless Love.
These are the new kinds of leaders we need in Africa now and in the future. These are the people we should look for and encourage, instead of discouraging them. These are the people we should begin to awaken within our own souls. These are the Neo-Africans.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
KINDNESS BEYOND POETRY
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.
BLOW ON
There is something
I want to write
– this has happened to me before –
That is:
It is the poet who wants to write it
While I, the pen,
Am yet in the dark
I only feel the heat of inspiration
The dark ink, flowing
The red blood, going
Somewhere
The wind, blowing…
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 