FOR TASTING YOUR LIPS IN MY DREAMS

 DAMSEL!

I hired a welder to forge iron bars,

to cage my heart from angels like you —

but it unlocked.

Forgive me for tasting your lips in dreams,

for undressing your worries,

for trying to erase myself from your memory.

I try not to wound your heart with my art,

not to frame your face in my mind's lane,

yet I stumble and fumble,

possessed by the excess of you

in my mind's endless mile.

I tried every pencil —

2B, HB, 3D — to draw you out of my way.

Still, deadlocked.

Hard luck on my stretched patience.

So I will lay my head

on this stubborn time-bomb of imagination,

praying it never explodes

into reality.

Written by: 
BANKOLE KOLAWOLE
Creative Director, BankHALL Trademark Media

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE" BOOK REVIEW

BOOK: WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?

Author: l J. Krishnamurti

Publisher: Krishnamurti Publications of America

First published: 2001

Genre: Philosophy, Self-Inquiry, Spirituality

Reviewed by: Gabriel Ebiere

The Courage to Question the Life We Inherit

Some books seek to improve the way people live; others question the assumptions upon which their lives are constructed. J. Krishnamurti's "What Are You Doing with Your Life?" belongs to the latter category. Rather than offering a conventional programme for success, happiness, or personal fulfilment, the book challenges readers to examine the psychological and social conditioning that influences their understanding of themselves. Its central concern is not simply what people do with their lives, but whether they understand the forces determining the choices they make.

Krishnamurti approaches familiar subjects — including education, fear, ambition, relationships, love, and freedom — with persistent scepticism towards inherited assumptions. He questions a society in which achievement is frequently measured through status, wealth, professional advancement, and conformity to established expectations. His concern is that individuals may devote themselves to these pursuits without investigating whether they genuinely reflect their own understanding or merely reproduce values absorbed from their surroundings.

The book's philosophical force lies in its insistence on self-inquiry. Krishnamurti does not encourage readers to replace one rigid belief system with another. Instead, he asks them to observe their thoughts, desires, fears, and reactions without immediately judging or suppressing them. Such observation, in his view, can expose the conditioning that shapes behaviour. The invitation is demanding because it removes the comfort of easy explanations and directs attention towards the individual mind as an object of serious investigation.

His treatment of fear is particularly significant. Fear can influence decisions about careers, relationships, social acceptance, and the future. It can persuade individuals to pursue conventional definitions of success while discouraging them from questioning whether those definitions are meaningful. Krishnamurti's inquiry suggests that understanding fear requires more than adopting reassuring beliefs or attempting to overpower uncomfortable emotions. It requires examining how fear operates, what sustains it, and how it shapes perception.

The same questioning spirit informs his reflections on relationships and love. He challenges possessiveness, dependence, and the desire to control others, suggesting that these tendencies can be mistaken for affection. His perspective invites readers to consider whether their relationships are founded on genuine understanding or on insecurity and the need for psychological reassurance. Such questions remain relevant in a world where relationships are often evaluated through social expectations rather than the quality of attention and understanding between individuals.

The book is accessible, conversational style makes its ideas approachable, although its philosophical approach demands patience. Rather than constructing a conventional argument that proceeds systematically towards a clearly defined conclusion, Krishnamurti frequently returns to fundamental questions from different perspectives. This repetition can deepen reflection, but it can also frustrate readers who expect a structured sequence of principles, practical exercises, and measurable outcomes. His work is better approached as an invitation to sustained inquiry than as a manual offering immediately applicable solutions.

A further limitation concerns the relationship between individual consciousness and social conditions. Krishnamurti's emphasis on psychological transformation can illuminate the ways people internalise fear, competition, and conformity. However, personal insight alone cannot eliminate institutional discrimination, economic hardship, political oppression, or unequal access to opportunity. A person may recognise the psychological roots of insecurity without possessing the material freedom to escape an insecure environment. Inner understanding matters, but it should not be confused with a complete explanation of human suffering.

There is also a tension within the book's approach to authority. Krishnamurti encourages readers to question established beliefs and resist dependence on psychological authorities. Yet readers must also examine his own assertions critically rather than accepting them simply because they challenge convention. Intellectual freedom requires scrutiny of the teacher as well as the teaching.

Ultimately, _What Are You Doing with Your Life?_ is valuable because it unsettles the assumption that a life becomes meaningful merely by following an accepted path. It asks readers to investigate the motivations behind their ambitions, the fears beneath their decisions, and the beliefs that influence their relationships with others. Its questions are often more consequential than any definitive answer it might provide.

The book does not promise that self-understanding will produce a life free from uncertainty. Instead, it challenges readers to become more attentive to the processes through which they interpret experience. In doing so, Krishnamurti offers a demanding philosophical proposition: before deciding what life should become, one must be willing to examine the mind through which life is understood. The resulting freedom is not an escape from responsibility, but a deeper awareness of how one participates in shaping one's existence.

Bio of reviewer:

Gabriel Ebiere Blessing is a Nigerian writer and spoken-word artist whose work interrogates the complexities of human existence, faith, identity, and the delicate intersections between personal experience and collective realities. Her writing is characterised by emotional depth, contemplative inquiry, and a keen sensitivity to the unspoken narratives that shape human lives. Her work reflects a sustained interest in the transformative possibilities of words and their capacity to deepen human understanding.

...POLITICS IN AFRICA

I was a bit skeptical reading the book, The Death of Comrade President by Alain Mabanckou. This is because reading about politics in Africa irritates and saddens me. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the author chose to write the book from Michel's perspective as a young boy.

The narrator, Michel, has a childlike, authentic tone. His naivety and innocence were both funny and annoying. The fact that he so much believed in the “The White Cranes,” is unsurprising for a child his age. It makes me wonder about the “unreasonable/impossible” things I also believed when I was his age.

Though, it’s impossible for him to have been able to recall, word for word, all that he heard been discussed. But the fact that we were limited to only his perspective, ( i.e. he was the only point of view chosen by the author), made a case for him to be able to tell it all.

I like the use of the poetic device of refrain i.e. the constant repetition of a certain statement by Michel, “….to do things that I won’t go into here or people will say Michel always exaggerates and sometimes he says rude things without meaning to.”

His concern for his dog, Mboua Mabe, and his readiness to risk his life to go looking for the dog made me a little anxious for him.

The use of satire is what makes the book relatively easy to read, as there was a lot of information dumped on us that we could do without. The book can’t readily be classified as a work of fiction, and this is substantiated by some of the recorded political history of Congo, which bears close semblance to the events in the book. The references to the events in other countries in Africa also gave an insight into how Africans perceived their fellow Africans.

Maman Pauline and Papa Roger as a couple are two interesting, and contrasting individuals. Maman Pauline is a proud, stubborn woman, blessed with an understanding and supportive husband in Papa Roger, yet she single-handedly manages to ruin it all.

It was a beautiful but sad ending. It’s sad because Maman Pauline and the rest of the family might probably end up dead. But it’s beautiful because it was a cliffhanger, we don’t know for sure what will happen to Maman Pauline and the rest of the family. Thus, we are left with more questions than answers. But that’s how I believe the conclusion of a book should be.

A book, like a movie, only captures a time zone. There were events before that time zone, and there would be events after that time zone. Also, the fact that no one would leave this world alive, shows there are no happy endings in life. Thus, to attempt to provide all the answers to the questions that will arise, or to ensure everyone gets what they want would always feel contrived.

Signed

Olumide Holloway (King Olulu)

THE MATHEMATICS OF EMPTY POCKETS...

ZERO IS STILL A BEGINNING

 

I became older before my birthday allowed it,

learned the mathematics of empty pockets,

how to divide one meal between two people

and still tell my sibling, “Take more,”

as though hunger were something love could negotiate.

 

There was no manual for becoming the responsible one,

no trumpet announcing, you are the man now,

just bills, small shoes, unfinished dreams

and a younger voice asking questions

I was too young to answer.

 

But zero frightened me less with time.

I discovered that nothing is not the same as nowhere,

that a bare road is still a road,

and a boy with empty hands

can still build a life with them.

 

I came from beginnings that looked like endings,

from rooms where possibility had no furniture,

and every step I took became proof

that starting from zero

does not mean you were born to remain there.

 

 by

Nasirudeen Isola Muritala

 

ÌBÀDÀN

Ibadan pikin, that’s where my story began.

Grandparents’ house, where I learnt how to grin.

Dem old but dem strong, dem no dey play.

Dem teach me life in their own way.

My childhood had two sides of one coin.

Warmth in their laps, distance in the join.

They gave me wisdom I’ll never forget.

They gave me memories I’ll always get.

I’m grateful for every lesson they sowed.

Even on the days I felt out of mode.

Sometimes I need help and dem no sabi.

Sometimes I talk and dem go just look at me.

The gap between us felt as wide as the Atlantic.

So I learned to find my footing without their magic.

I figured out things without a guide.

I became my own best friend inside.

I kept to myself, I made my own fun.

I learned that alone doesn’t mean you’re undone.

The quiet taught me how to hear.

The silence taught me I was here.

Visiting parents dey feel like stranger’s place.

I dey long to go back to Grandma’s face.

But going back too, something dey miss.

Like I dey search for something I no fit kiss.

I was in between, not fully here or there.

Longing for one while missing the other air.

It felt like wearing two different shoes.

Both fit wrong, but both were what I’d choose.

I searched for home in both directions.

And found pieces in both reflections.

Despite everything, dem love me die.

Even aunts and cousins dey ask "why?"

"Why dem like this pikin so?"

"Why dem give am everything we know?"

That love was loud, even when things were tough.

That love was proof that I was enough.

I may have grown up between two worlds.

But I grew up held, and that’s what matters most.

I carry Ibadan, Abeokuta, and them in me.

And that is where I’m finally free.

About the poet:

Ololade Obadina is a poet and writer exploring identity, resilience, personal growth, and the extraordinary moments tucked inside everyday life.