"Once upon A Time ," by Gabriel Okara

ONCE UPON A TIME

Once Upon a Time Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts and laugh with their eyes: but now they only laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block-cold eyes search behind my shadow.

There was a time indeed they used to shake hands with their hearts: but that’s gone, son. Now they shake hands without hearts while their left hands search my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’: they say, and when I come again and feel at home, once, twice, there will be no thrice- for then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son. I have learned to wear many faces like dresses – homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too to laugh with only my teeth and shake hands without my heart. I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’, when I mean ‘Good-riddance’: to say ‘Glad to meet you’, without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son. I want to be what I used to be when I was like you. I want to unlearn all these muting things. Most of all, I want to relearn how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son, how to laugh; show me how I used to laugh and smile once upon a time when I was like you.

-Gabriel Okara

In this poem shown above the poet expresses his thoughts in the form of a story to his "son"(youth readers). In this tale the poet speaks about his childhood and how it was transformed from a form of innocence into a state of hipocracy evident in line stanza one when he says" they used to laugh with their heartsand laugh with their eyes:but now they only laugh with their teeth,while their ice-block-cold eyessearch behind my shadow", suggesting the lack of sincerity, what we know as being"fake". The personna speaks out of a deep regret for what his past childhood life was able of mold him into. His childhood which was supposed to be a time of laughter and happiness was influecnced by the hypocracy of the adults, with whom he had interactions with. The poet Comes full circle as he seeks from his help from his "son" in returning his old life when he genuinly laughed and smiled with his teeth and not with eyes.

I fully understand the poets need to revert back to his old life. It is suprisingly very easy to for someone to corrupt and change your personality to something you can no longer recognize. In the poets case his virtue was taken from him at a young age. In the society we live today people with morals are very rare, however in the poets case he saw a mirror of what his life was like through his "son " and sought help to escape the clutches of his now hypocrytical lifestyle. In this era "fakeness" is very prevalent and I strongly believe that if we do not allow society to change us we would not find ourselfves in remorse later on.