Poetic Review
Title: Illusion or Reality
Story: Titilope Adefunke Lanigan
Reviewer: Bamigbade Racheal Ifeoluwa
Publisher: OAK Initiative
“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality”- ‘Iris Murdoch’. In this thoughtful collection of poems entitled, “Illusion or Reality” written by Titilope Adefunke Laniran, the poet made use of unique words that are human and universal at the same time. The poet successfully connected humanity and reality to make the readers explore the wonders of the universe through poetry. This 2022 publication of the OAK initiative, the publishing arm of OAK Foundation, a charity organisation aimed at supporting indigent students, widows and the fatherless in Africa, offers the readers 40 poems that plumb the depths of human nature through its belief, attitudes and behaviours, courage and desires.
Through this collection, from ‘Illusion to Reality’, Titilope Adefunke Laniran presents her poetic voice to the themes of ‘Reality’, ‘Illusion’, ‘Society’, ‘Spirituality’, ‘Ignorance’, Vision, and ‘Self-Discovery’. The 40 poems which are extraordinarily powerful and inspiring are as follows: Illusion, A Cosy Place, Intimacy, Affection, Imagination, Fantasy, Longing, Ruins, Changing Reality, Gone are the Days, Awake, Vision, Surviving, Thoughts and Dreams, Cosmos, Who am I?, Universe, I want it all, God’s face, Innocence, Applause, Ignorance, Grow Up, I and You, Friendship, Hidden, Depression, Justice, Hope, Where the mind goes, Ideas, A poet, Wisdom, Eyes Closed, The Actor’s Author, Beauty Within Us, Missing Identity, Deception, Me, Reality.
I am more than inspired and wowed by the powerful voice of the poet. Titilope Adefunke Laniran’s ‘Reality or Illusion’ is a well-recommended handbook for every walks of life to reflect on their personal experiences, face reality with all manner of integrity, and as well find peace in their various life journey
The poem titled, ‘Illusion’ has helped to inform the readers that illusion is a trick of the light, misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience. It tends to happen to everyone; the best is not to get carried by it but to be in motion to face the reality of life. The poet defined illusion in this manner: The abstraction in its reality/ The falsehood in its truth/It’s only but an illusion.
The poem in this collection titled, ‘Innocence’, was explained by the poet to allow the minds of the readers to journey from illusion to reality of life using childhood to adulthood journey as a case study. The poem goes thus: Do you remember the feeling of innocence/ From when you were young and carefree?/ You thought nothing could ever hurt you/ None could bring you to your knees/ But then came the day when innocence fled/ And you found yourself all alone/ You felt the weight of life on your shoulders/ And had to face it all on your own.
The poem titled, ‘Reality’ was explained by the life poet as a series of four layers: the surface, below the surface, how deep it can go, and the centre of it all. Human beings face different facets of life, which on showing our true nature either good or bad. The poet expressed her poetic voice in the mannerism of the reality of life and what we face every day, the more we face the reality of life, the more we get to understand it better.
The 50 beautiful poems in this collection, arranged tenderly and creatively captivating, are an invitation for all walks of life to read often in order to put one’s ways aright. I am more than inspired and wowed by the powerful voice of the poet. Titilope Adefunke Laniran’s ‘Reality or Illusion’ is a well-recommended handbook for every walks of life to reflect on their personal experiences, face reality with all manner of integrity, and as well find peace in their various life journey.