Once Upon a Time
(Gabriel Okara)

Once upon a time, child,
They used to laugh with their hearts
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
While their left hands search
my empty pockets. 

‘Fell 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 have I learned many things, child.
I have learned to wear my faces
Like dresses- homeface
Officeface, streetface, hostface,
Cocktail face, 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, child,
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 unlearn
How to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
Show only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

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