Nothing can ever happen twice. <br />In consequence, the sorry fact is <br />that we arrive here improvised <br />and leave without the chance to practice. <br /> <br />Even if there is no one dumber, <br />if you're the planet's biggest dunce, <br />you can't repeat the class in summer: <br />this course is only offered once. <br /> <br />No day copies yesterday, <br />no two nights will teach what bliss is <br />in precisely the same way, <br />with precisely the same kisses. <br /> <br />One day, perhaps some idle tongue <br />mentions your name by accident: <br />I feel as if a rose were flung <br />into the room, all hue and scent. <br /> <br />The next day, though you're here with me, <br />I can't help looking at the clock: <br />A rose? A rose? What could that be? <br />Is it a flower or a rock? <br /> <br />Why do we treat the fleeting day <br />with so much needless fear and sorrow? <br />It's in its nature not to stay: <br />Today is always gone tomorrow. <br /> <br />With smiles and kisses, we prefer <br />to seek accord beneath our star, <br />although we're different (we concur) <br />just as two drops of water are. <br /> <br />translated by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak<br /><br />Wislawa Szymborska<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nothing-twice/
