Once Upon a Time by Gabriel Okara ( Summary)

"Once Upon a Time" is a poem written by Gabriel Okara_ a.seven (7) stanza free verse with a simple diction.

The poem is about human nature and their behavior_ the poem speaker explains to his son about different times or era he or she had witnessed in relation or interaction with other people_ the first part of the poem is about how people were so sincere in their relationship with other. The other part of the poem tells of human insincerity and how the poem speaker also adopted the insincere way of relating with others.

The closing pert of the poem revealed the poem persona regret and wish to turn back the hands of time.

"Believe me son,

I want to be whst 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 fang!"

Gabriel Imomotimi Okara is a renowned Nigerian poets who lived between 1921 and 2019. Besides the poem "Once Upon a Time", he also wrote "Piano and Drums" and other countless contribution to the archive of African literature.