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James Tate - Never Again The Same

Speaking of sunsets,
last night's was shocking.
I mean, sunsets aren't supposed to frighten you, are they?
Well, this one was terrifying.
Sure, it was beautiful, but far too beautiful. 
It wasn't natural.
One climax followed another and then another
until your knees went weak 
and you couldn't breathe.
The colors were definitely not of this world,
peaches dripping opium,
pandemonium of tangerines,
inferno of irises,
Plutonian emeralds,
all swirling and churning, swabbing, 
like it was playing with us,
like we were nothing,
as if our whole lives were a preparation for this, 
this for which nothing could have prepared us 
and for which we could not have been less prepared.
The mockery of it all stung us bitterly.
And when it was finally over
we whimpered and cried and howled.
And then the streetlights came on as always 
and we looked into one another's eyes--
ancient caves with still pools
and those little transparent fish
who have never seen even one ray of light.
And the calm that returned to us
was not even our own.

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Added: Feb 7 2004 | Viewed: 16119 times | Comments and analysis of Never Again The Same by James Tate Comments (8)

Never Again The Same - Comments and Information

Poet: James Tate
Poem: Never Again The Same
Poem of the Day: Oct 30 2000

Comment 8 of 8, added on January 4th, 2012 at 9:29 PM.
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Way to use the internet to help poelpe solve problems!

Jorja from Belize
Comment 7 of 8, added on January 3rd, 2009 at 7:10 PM.

Why not change it to "Never the Same Again!" It flows a lot better than "Never Again the Same." Everybody says that!

Peter from United States
Comment 6 of 8, added on December 10th, 2006 at 5:28 AM.

The use of language here to actually describe man's relationship to a nature that exists beyond language is magical. Nature becomes un-natural. If perceived as the force that contains us but is not us the universe outside of language is virtually oppressive in its foreigness. I think Tate and Munch shared a moment.

john payne from United States

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