Though disgraced
I will not lose face
I will raise it
that the sun
may shine on me.
Every fibre of my being
Every corner of my soul
Every song of my spirit
Will become new –
for the flames of the sun
Have killed me.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
strength
SUNRISE AT WORLD’S END
Wait, morning wind
Wait for my awakening
For I bring a sun
Today shall be another day
Of the same old depressing news
Of hatred, xenophobia, corruption and wars
If I didn’t have this sunlight
Rising daily in my soul
I would think the world were ending
Now my sun is risen
Now rise too, my morning wind
For the old world is ending.
– 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.
COMPANY
Through this last stretch
Of lonely days
This last patch of watered fields
Although the mountains be now in sight
Need I some company
To make easier the journeying
And ease a bit my lonesome sorrow
That I by pain be not too distracted
From that alertness
That be my sworded shield…
So keep me company
Dear Muse
From here to Kingdom Come.
– 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.
GENTLE STRENGTH
Like water, going…
Like air, there, everywhere…
Gentle strength
Will slowly overcome
And overtake
You
Just when you think that
You have conquered…
Like love, forever…
Like trust, silently growing…
Gentle strength
Will finally become a part
Of you
Your greatest asset
Just when you think that
You have been conquered…
Though they hit you
And hit you again and again
Yet they lose always
Because love is the strongest force of all.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
FINDING STRENGTH FROM INVISIBLE PLACES
No one to talk to,
And no one to tell that to.
Drawing strength
From invisible places
Everyday.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
AND YOU SHALL FIND
Nothing that comes, unspoiled
From the spirit
Is empty
It might take people two decades
Or two centuries
Or two millennia to understand it
But they will
Because, like an immortal light
The deeper the darkness
The brighter the flame
Until, one day
People take notice, stop, and ask…
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
INTO THE SECOND CALM
A period of difficulty, well endured with reflection and honesty, will awaken calm within the soul. Calm brings clarity.
If you continue to rise higher while calm, you will one day break into a second world of utter confusion which jumps upon you just when your calm reaches its peak. This second confusion is the most difficult path, because it confounds your new knowledge and laughs at your newfound calm. At its height, you will lose all hope.
If, however, you remain calm, even in the heart of your confused hopelessness and hopeless confusion, something New will awaken within and overtake you, and set you free, reborn. Because from the valley the next step is upwards, provided you have not first buried yourself in dejection in the valley.
Even when there is no hope, yet continue to hope. Even when you are broken, and rebroken, yet trust in life. – And you shall enter into the Second Calm. And, come what may, nothing and nobody can take away this Calm from you, because it is the other side of pain, where spirit dies no more.
– 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.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 