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"Nothing Twice/Nic dwa Razy" is the book that any Anglophone or person with a strong command of English should read to become acquainted with Wisława Szymborska, the winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize for literature. It contains all the poems found in "A Grain of Sand" and another dozen or so more. More importantly for the Polish emigrant family anxious to introduce its children to Polish literature, it contains all the Polish originals on the opposing pages.
Szymborska was the poet-laureate of central European Stalinism. She wrote not as a naive Westerner possessed of romantic ideas about what life was like behind the Iron Curtain but as an insider who liked what she saw. Her mission was to convince her fellow Poles that communism was a project intended to create a just society. It was never intended to turn our lives into fairy tales. Szymborska's poems are sunny and cheerful . One must accept what one has without romantic notions. Her poems are remarkably clear by the standards of the 20th century not because she was simple-minded but because her intent was to educate Poles in Soviet citizenry.
I regretfully concede that there at least 30 very good poems in this anthology. I particularly liked "Miłość Szczęliwa / True Love" which mocks the notion of the perfect love and "O Śmierci bez Przesdady / On Death without Exaggeration" which reminds that reader that while the grim reaper can put an end to your actions, he can never take away from you what you have accomplished before he arrives. I am not going to bother mentioning any others because I find it difficult to praise a writer of political stripe.