Friday, November 21, 2008

"Nothing Twice" by Wislawa Szymborska, Translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak

Nothing can ever happen twice.
In consequence, the sorry fact is
that we arrive here improvised
and leave without the chance to practice.

Even if there is no one dumber,
if you're the planet's biggest dunce,
you can't repeat the class in summer:
this course is only offered once.

No day copies yesterday,
no two nights will teach what bliss is
in precisely the same way,
with precisely the same kisses.

One day, perhaps some idle tongue
mentions your name by accident:
I feel as if a rose were flung
into the room, all hue and scent.

The next day, though you're here with me,
I can't help looking at the clock:
A rose? A rose? What could that be?
Is it a flower or a rock?

Why do we treat the fleeting day
with so much needless fear and sorrow?
It's in its nature not to say
Today is always gone tomorrow

With smiles and kisses, we prefer
to seek accord beneath our star,
although we're different (we concur)
just as two drops of water are.

Sometimes I read a poem and just really fall in love with it, without exactly knowing why. Maybe it is the flow of the words or the mood I'm in or the way it makes me feel at a particular moment. Whatever the reason, I like this poem and would like to share it and that is that.

2 comments:

Courtney Saunders said...

I also like it.
Who is it by?

Courtney Saunders said...

would you like to know how dense I am. Its like right there who it's by haha. Lets pretend I didn't post that last comment. :)

 
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