Get Guardian on GooglePoet and visual artist, Hameed Ayodeji, has unveiled Tales Of True Religion, a collection of 20 poems exploring love, spirituality, romance and the relationship between humanity and God.
The collection, developed over nine years, from 2017 to 2026, reflects Ayodeji’s belief that love transcends cultural and personal differences, serving as a universal language that connects people and gives meaning to life.
Combining poetry with illustrations, the work presents love not only as an emotion but also as an enduring conviction and an art form through which people can communicate their deepest thoughts and experiences.
According to Ayodeji, the title, Tales Of True Religion, reflects his belief that love is the greatest religion, extending beyond formal religious practices to encompass the shared experiences and connections that define humanity.
For him, love represents beauty, connection and a fundamental aspect of human existence. This philosophy runs through the collection, which draws on both romantic experiences and spiritual reflections.
The project also reflects Ayodeji’s interest in communicating ideas through different artistic forms. While poetry provides the words, illustrations offer a visual dimension to the emotions and messages conveyed in the poems.
His preference for abstract communication, he explained, makes poetry a suitable medium for expressing thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to articulate directly. The combination of literary and visual art allows him to explore these ideas through complementary forms of expression.
The journey to publication involved compiling the poems, preparing the collection for digital distribution and working with an illustrator. The production process took more than a year, adding another phase to a creative project that had evolved over nearly a decade.
Ayodeji said his inspiration comes from God, whom he regards as the source of his creativity. However, translating emotions into words and expressing them with the desired clarity and precision presented some of the challenges he encountered during the writing process.
Beyond its artistic themes, the collection offers a personal account of Ayodeji’s evolving understanding of life, love and faith. He sees these elements as interconnected, with his experiences informing the perspectives expressed throughout the poems.
Despite its personal origins, the collection is intended for a broad audience. Ayodeji hopes readers from different backgrounds will connect with its central message and appreciate love as a universal experience.
His understanding of creativity and spirituality was also reflected at the Selar 10th Year Anniversary exhibition, where he identified God as his creative superpower.
When asked to identify the colour that best represented his creative style, Ayodeji chose black, describing it as untainted. He drew a parallel between the colour and his understanding of love as something that remains true to its essence.
This perspective presents love as more than tenderness or romantic affection. It also portrays it as a powerful force that demands seriousness and can be intimidating in its depth and intensity.
Through the collection, Ayodeji seeks to encourage readers to reflect on love as a language, an art and a defining part of the human journey, ultimately advancing his central conviction that love is the greatest thing.
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