NOTHING TWICE

Contributed by:  Sean Morrissey
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So much has been said for 2020, and though we’re very much living in its wake I propose a step forward. January is a time for renewal and resolution, for looking ahead at the great potential of the unknown.
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​In that spirit, and in memory of these past many months, an inspired poem from the late Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska:

Nothing Twice

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 stay:
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.

​Of course, nothing turns on a dime and the events of December will inevitably roll over into this new year. There is only so much we can do sometimes to stem the flow of geopolitical change, and here Szymborska offers a necessary reminder that every day breeds new opportunity. It is arguably the great gift of life, to begin anew each day with smiles and kisses while putting yesterday’s trouble to bed.

Consider the long lifetime of this celebrated Polish poet, who lived through the worst years of World War II with its immeasurable suffering and through decades of communist oppression. Szymborska was witness to incredible tragedy and still she endured day-on-day into old age, writing some of the most enduring poetry of this past century. Her example (and indeed this poem) are reminders of our inherent resilience in this unwavering pursuit of a better world.