Windows are opening out of
And into my soul
Like trap-doors trapping out
And waterfalls falling down
And flowers flowering forever away
From night to day
And wailing winds unafraid of me
Of whom I am not afraid
And wishing pains and painful wishes
And undying longings and the longing for immortality
And this poem, like this strange year, is finished.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Und sie flog, verflog
Ein Jahr wie eine Nacht
Flüstern und atmen, leise und laut
Und alle meine Gedanken
Und alle meine Empfindungen
Meine Gefühle, meine Wünsche
Bedürfnisse, Geheimnisse, geheime Schritte
Alles waren Fußabdrücke im fallenden Schnee
Lautlos.
Und alles trankst du auf
Wie Wein…
Das habe ich am meisten genossen
Daß du mir alles lautlos nahmst
Gabst mir nichts im Gegenzug zurück
Es fehlt noch ein Tag, dann ist das Jahr um –
Auch ihn trinke, ganz und tief
Denn ich will komplett verschwinden.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
It began as a running thought
What I ought and ought not perhaps
Know, do or think
It began as a bowl of poems
But when the curtain lifted
I saw it was one poem.
This is the path of light
The curving straight line
Nothing is too far, nothing is too near
I shall get there.
Lovely are the snowflakes outside the
Airbus windows
Soon we shall rollbacktaxirunaway and
Take off –
And I shall remember the snow
And take along with me the love of friends
Into the new year.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
They say a time will come
When upon this earth
Evolution will girdle its gains
Back again around its girth
Many a wondrous tree
That we cherish and deeply love
Will, year by year, with time
Evolving slow dissolve
Many a beloved animal
Continents, rivers, plateaux
Even man, the so-called crown
Yes, our body too will go
And one day, even she
Heaven’s gate and heaven’s door
The lovely lovely rose
On earth will be no more.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
