The poet longs for the old life with human values where we had real laughter and real concern for others.

When the poet says ‘goodbye’, he means ‘good-riddance’. It means that the poet is relieved of an unwanted person.

When the poet visits someone for the third time he is not welcomed by the other.

Narrator is the father and the listener is the son.

Gabriel Okara (born 1921) is a Nigerian poet and novelist. His verse has been translated into several languages. Okara’s typical poem transits from everyday reality to moments of delight and moves back to reality making a complete circle.
The poet Okara in his poem ‘Once Upon a Time’ painfully condemns the duplicity displayed by adults both in their words and actions. Here, a father laments to his son about the negative changes that creep into the attitude and behaviour of humans when they grow into adults. He used to be genuine when he laughed. But now his laughter is fake. He has learnt to laugh without any feeling. Their handshakes used to be warm and happy conveying a sense of togetherness, but nowadays the handshakes have become a mere falsity. He too has learnt to give such handshakes. He has again learnt how to welcome people with words coming only from the lips. Now he can change the facial expressions according to the situations.

a) The poet’s son is addressed here.
b) Once upon a time or long back they laughed with their hearts
c) By the phrase ‘laugh with their heart’, the poet means genuine laughter, not outward laughter.

a) ‘They’ are the people of the modern world.
b) ‘Ice-block-cold-eyes’ means people laugh without feeling of warmth or endearing expression.
c) Metaphor.