ONCE UPON A ONCE UPON A TIMETIME

Gabriel Okara

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 eyesSearch behind my shadow.

There was a time indeedThey used to shake hands with their

hearts: but that’s gone, son. Now they shake hands without heartsWhile their left hands search My empty pockets.

‘Feel at home’! ‘come again’!:They say and when i comeAgain 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 facesLike dresses– homefaceOfficeface, Streetface, Hostface,Cocktailface, with all their conforming

smilesLike a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned tooTo laugh with only my teethAnd 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 beenNice 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 relearnHow to laugh, for my laugh in the mirrorShows only my teeth like a snakes bare fangs!

So show me, son, How to laugh; show me howI used to laugh and smileOnce upon a time when I was like you.

WHAT IT’S ABOUTHow attitudes and people changeHow honest people used to be and how deceitful

they are nowHow the author wishes he could be like he used

toHow adults can learn from innocent children role

reversalHow adulthood can change you and how quickly

people adapt to the changesHow parenthood can change your views of the

world

IMAGERY• Simile line 20/21 “I have learned to wear many

faces like dresses” Makes expressions and emotions seem like they’re disposable, and you can choose how to feel and when to feel it.

• Simile line 39 “...laugh in the mirror shows my teeth like a snakes bare fangs!” Shows how poisonous(like a snake)he feels that he’s become.

• Metaphor line 5 “ Ice-block cold eyes” • Metaphor line 11/12 “their left hands search my

empty pockets”

STRUCTURE

Free verse No rhyme scheme The structure of the poem makes it seem like he’s

actually talking to his child

MOOD/ TONE

Serious throughout End stanza shows hope

EFFECT

We sympathise with him because he recognises how he’s changed, and because he wants to return to how he was.

We relate to him because we can all understand the feeling of not wanting to be dishonest with ourselves and two faced.

LINKED WITH...

Old Man, Old Man U. A. Fanthorpe Follower Seamus Heaney At Grass Phillip Larkin

Added by: Zainul Abideen Kodi:H.S.A English

VPKMM HSS, Puthur Pallikkal, Malappuram