Poem: “Once Upon a Time” by Gabriel Okara

📚 Need a custom study guide on any literary text? Get the best study guide money can buy from us at Literature PADI! Detailed, insightful, and crafted by literature experts to give you maximum value for your money.
[See Pricing & Details!]

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 Imomotimi Okara

Premium PDF

We have a study guide made just for you to aid your understanding of Gabriel Okara’s poem. The 18-page premium study guide has a touch of finesse you can only find on Literature PADI. Download the entire Once Upon a Time study guide as a printable PDF now!

Also in Similar Categories

• Content Analysis of Gabriel Okara’s “Once Upon a Time”
• Themes in Gabriel Okara’s “Once Upon a Time”
• 2026–2030 Recommended Literature Texts For WAEC and NECO SSCE

Join Our Social Media Channels:

• WhatsApp: Literature PADI
• Telegram: Literature PADI
• YouTube: @literaturepadi
• Facebook: Literature PADI

We also have two WhatsApp chatrooms with a little above 1,300 like-minded members. You can join any of them for further literary discussions:

1. Literature PADI (Group 1)
2. Literature PADI (Group 2)

Ensure you join one at a time to allow others to be part of our wonderful community.