NOTHING TWICE
by Wislawa Szymborska - Poland
Nothing can ever happen twice.In consequence, the sorry fact isthat we arrive here improvisedand 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 isin precisely the same way,with precisely the same kisses.
One day, perhaps some idle tonguementions your name by accident:I feel as if a rose were flunginto 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 daywith so much needless fear and sorrow ?It's in its nature not to stay:Today is always gone tomorrow.
With smiles and kisses, we preferto seek accord beneath our star,although we're different (we concur)just as two drops of water are.
Translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
|
|
