Again and Against Again

What does replication do
To the topic of the poem?
Once dematerialized

And rematerialized
A few dozen times, do thoughts
Snagged on words get so worn thin

They’re more like webbing or smoke
In Monet’s views of London?
Maybe they’ll only achieve

Some dull, tub-thumping rhythm
From so much repetition.
There’s that sad idea again.

Ask any jazz musician—
A theme needs variation
To the point where one almost

Loses the ability
To sense the original
Melody. Then again, jazz

Has its own repetitive
Problems. Monet at Rouen
May not be the way you want

To come to terms with the world—
Oil paint, canvas, and the same
Facade, again and again.

Then again, for poor Monet,
Was there any other way?
Almost, but not quite. Again.