"Once upon a Time..."

 

         I have to say I have a sort of a personal connection with this poem. Reading it brings back memories, which does bring a genuine smile to my face. It was 2016, I think, and my dad had got a new headphone set, with a tiny mic attached to it, nothing fancy but it looked pretty cool, holding it for the first time. Either way, my dad had downloaded the lines for the poem and goes on to record himself reciting the poem on the computer. The amusing thing was this funny Southern American accent he was trying to put in as he was recording the poem. He made us listen to it a dozen times until it was boring my insides out.  Anyhow, he was proud of his work! Now let’s get into the poem.

The link for the poem:
 https://thehenrybrothers.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/once-upon-a-time-gabriel-okara/
         

     Now most of my readers would have already read this poem somewhere, and you do not want me to say how impactful the lines are right from the first time you finished the poem. It is a conversation between a father and a son, more of a monologue, as the father narrates the realities of adult life, which is by no means an easy pill to swallow.
 

“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.”

 

          Such powerful lines, isn’t it. I admit, most of us including me are guilty of this accusation. We all can remember glimpses of our childhood, a simpler and a more innocent time, where we smile when we smile, laugh when we laugh, and cry when we cry. Somewhere around the way we have lost (or losing) such an enchantment of our life. What happened? Adulthood? Society? Sure, a laugh or two is good for yourself, but does it hold any value if it doesn’t come from the heart?
 

          Now as the poet says, they used to a time when they used to “shake hand with their hearts”. The Nigerian poet could be referring to the influence of the West, but it undoubtedly refers to all of us. We complain about a lack of true meaningful relationships with anyone in today’s world, but firstly shouldn’t we be held accountable for our own actions when it comes to this?     
        

"‘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."

 
         My favorite lines in the poem. We might call them boundaries but then there’s reality. There wouldn’t be a third time when you ask for help, since you would find the doors closing shut on you. Has hospitality and empathy become meagre actions of our own convenience? Now dear reader, I, by no means have any right to shove the blame on anyone since we all have our share of worries that caring for others is perhaps too much to handle.
 

      Reading the poem, you realize that the poet is more worried about the pretentious nature of the world. Everyday waking up we put on a face attempting to be something we are not, trying to keep up with standards put by the world around us. Like the poet says we have all sorts of these faces; 'homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, cocktailface' whatnot.
 

       The poet is now asking his own son to be his guide, asking him to teach him how to smile again, how to laugh with a heart and laugh with his eyes. Just thinking of the memories of childhood ought to bring a smile to our tired faces, and perhaps a true way to escape our predicament is to learn from our younger selves. The return from disenchantment to enchantment is no easy task, I would say, however let us (including me, yes) attempt to return to our hearts, where we could learn to smile again, to laugh again, to cry again.
 
Let me know your thoughts dear reader,
Until next time

Lan