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 fond 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         

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