HOPE AS A DREAMSCAPE: a review of Lanre Sonde’s Canvas of Freedom by Jide Badmus
The title of the poem gifts us a subtle paradox, soft on the mind, easy to miss. A canvas traps everything within itself. It hangs on a wall, too. Oddly, a virgin canvas is an invitation to boundless imagination—and a good portrait is a door to dauntless dreams. What a way to welcome the reader into a poem—a simple metaphor, and a hint of conflict.
Canvas of Freedom explores the speaker’s appetite for love and freedom in a world rife with negativity, speaking directly to the oppressed, advocating for equality, and offering dreams, hope and healing. The persona, seemingly vague, is a visionary, a social activist who believes in the power of motivation and collective action. He addresses a similarly indistinct and diverse audience, urging them to contribute to building an all-inclusive world.
The voice is calm, yet the tone is earnest. The diction contrasts positive and negative imagery, an attempt at highlighting the struggles and ambitions of civilization. There’s a constant undertone of inspiration amid the direness of reality. The choice of words emphasizes the intended images of the art of freedom—shadow, paint, hue, perspective, mosaic, love, future, dream, lullabies, and so on.
Maya Angelou’s Caged Bird came to mind while reading Lanre Sonde’s poem. Both poems focus on the quest for freedom in the face of grim reality albeit through slightly different approach. Canvas of Freedom tows the motivational path, seeking to stir into action while Maya’s poem is reflective and melancholic. Both poems speak of resilience.
Caged Bird leans on a powerful analogy and comparison to tell its story—something Lanre’s poem could benefit from. His images, which are largely abstract (and universal) would be enhanced adopting more concrete images and specific experiences. The words, dream and love (in their variations) are mentioned thrice, healing, twice, and love, four times—which could imply a struggle with articulation of the difficult emotions of the subject. It reveals a crack in the concrete of empathy. The concepts of love, freedom, and hope are more potent when married to tangible images.
Lanre makes up for this slight hiccup with his well carved metaphors and personification—hues of hope, chains of hatred, walls that whisper—and neat alliteration…
Brick by brick, beam by beam
Let’s forge a future for a better tomorrow
Where love leads and guides our darkest nights
Awakening us to dared dreams at daybreak
Chains and walls, like cage and bars, vividly symbolise confinement or exclusion. Lullabies and blueprints are brilliant representations of dreams, too.
The third stanza of Maya Angelou’s poem echoes the line, Dreaming is free, let’s dare to dream, it goes,
“The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.”
Lanre’s poem hints at social imbalance, as evident in the first line reference to privilege. One thing to note with this poem is the deliberate approach to storytelling. The first step to creating a painting on a canvas is observation—come out, sit and listen. The progression from embracing silence to seeing the possibilities dawn presents is apt and profound. The poem transitions from musing to blueprints, and finally to erecting bricks and beams—from prospect to reality. The storytelling is conceptually sound, though line to line (and stanza to stanza) movement could be more fluid.
A few lines are cloaked in ambiguity. A few others hit the pothole of tropes and verbosity. What interpretation do we give “Tomorrow justifies means to meaning”? How familiar do “forging futures”, “daring dreams” and “better tomorrow” sound? While my criticism here is visually and page biased, I must confess that the poem, recited/performed on a stage, is effective and will enthral an audience. It taps into the magic of repetition and alliteration to create music. Where brevity would have been an advantage on paper, there is power in elaboration and exaggeration to create an atmosphere of familiarity between the performer and his listeners.
The themes in Canvas of Freedom are universally relevant, especially in times like this when the world is littered with wars. Lanre Sonde’s words paint love and justice, peace, and unity, an ideal portrait—a vision for humanity. But what’s the significance of hope in poetry—a place of solace or a connection between continents and generations? This poem seems to agree with JP Clark’s None Apart. And the message is clear—the sustenance of society rests on understanding the strength of community!
“Each in our own island, many
Swear they stand out alone;
Yet at the bottom of the sea,
Atolls and continents are one”
Lanre Sonde is a passionate and introspective Nigerian poet and author, exploring themes of love, social justice, and personal growth. His work resonates with emotional intensity, symbolism, and philosophical depth.
Inspired by the human condition, Lanre’s poetry navigates complex emotions, relationships, and existential questions.
A strong advocate for freedom and self-expression, Lanre’s writing challenges societal norms and seeks truth. His poetic journey weaves together personal experiences, historical events, and fictional narratives. His works has been featured at an exhibition at the Great North Museum in Newcastle and Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar, United Kingdom.
Lanre performed Canvas of Freedom at the Skimstone Arts’ Turning to Face The Sun on Thursday 30th January 2025 as part of the National Holocaust Memorial Day Programme and Newcastle City Council’s Holocaust Memorial Day Events 2025.
Find the poem below:
CANVAS OF FREEDOM
Hiding in shadows of your privilege
a spotlight on the oppressed
Come out, sit and listen
Solemnly let silence be a stimulant for healing
Paint the dawn in hues of hope,
on a broad canvas, for tomorrow.
Tomorrow justifies means to meaning
Where freedom’s not a mere perspective
In newness of love, we find liberty
from chains of hatred that blinds
Our humanity warped with burden
From walls that whisper “you don’t belong here”
Dreaming is free, let’s dare to dream
For a world made from blueprints of love
A place where everyone’s heard and seen
And can sleep with lullabies and blues
Brick by brick, beam by beam
Let’s forge a future for a better tomorrow
Where love leads and guides our darkest nights
Awakening us to dared dreams at daybreak
To a world where every soul is healed
To a world that embraces our mosaic mind
To a world that celebrates strength in diversity
To a world where community and love entwine
