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.
When you feel the thing
Most sought
The thing most loved
The thing most needed
The thing most sensed, most uncomprehended
The thing most yours
Approaching you…
Do not walk faster
Do not let over-excitement hurry you
Do not abandon your rhythmic pace
As you reach out to grab it
But just keep on moving
Steadily back Home.
We wander, we wander, we wander…
Everywhere we wander –
Never hurrying
Never worrying
Never tarrying
Ever merrying.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
And this a wanderer said to me
The mountains will awaken mountains in you
And the rivers will make a more thoughtful
Traveller of you.
The seasons will change you as frequently
As they change – and your new selves
Will not remember the person
You used to be.
And when you come back home again,
Sadness, quietness and joy will overcome you
And everything you left on the road
Will be as a dream.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
I have a lonely brother, born of a single mother and father, lonely and alone, trudging patiently home through the land of snow-mountains and smoke-forests and sandy deserts, not to forget the bottomless sea. He has few friends, for few comprehend him, even though he treasures the goal also all so alone. I want to help him, but I do not know how to, nor does he always accept help. I know only that, in the end, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. Are you lonely, brother? Nobody is ever alone. An angel, a beast or a solitary star – one of these is always there with you and me. If I am not my brother’s keeper, who is? And whose keeper then am I? I guess I keep again our second goal.
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Ich setze mich ruhig
Auf die Bank Deiner Liebe
Pfeife durch gezogene Lippen
Lache mit den Vögeln
Bin ich einsam? – Wer weiß?
Bin ich traurig? – Wer weiß?
Ich sehe freudig aus
Pfeife mit den Vögeln
Ich bin auf Erden
Wanderer aus undenklichen Urfernen
Bin ich von Heimweh gefüllt? – wer weiß?
Ich bin wanderfroh, wach und wieder da
Und, auf meiner Rückreise
Setze ich mich ruhig auf die Bank
Deiner Liebe
Einen Augenblick harre ich
Und dann bin ich wieder gegangen
Flügel, winkend, eine Erinnerung…
– Che Chidi Chukwumerije.
Du in der Leere
Du in dem fremden Land
Du in dem Garten, wo keiner sonst ist
Bist du sicher?
Ganz sicher?
Du ohne Bruder
Du ohne Schwester
Du ohne Familie, ohne Freund, ohne zweiten
Du ohne Mitreisenden
Bist du sicher?
Ganz sicher?
Du für dich allein
Du bei dir allein
Sei doch zuerst dessen ganz klar
Was du machst und machen willst
Bevor du weiter wanderst
Bevor du weiter wanderst
Bevor du weiter wanderst
Dorthin.
– CHE CHIDI CHUKWUMERIJE.
Che Chidi Chukwumerije 