SEE-SAW Poem by Jan Wagner

make yourself heavier, they call. i close
both eyes, thinking
of sacks of cement, iron foundries
and elephants, an anchor sinking

in deep mud while a fleet of whales
manoeuvres above it, an anvil's
bullish head. for a while
i hold my breath and wait. to no avail:

nothing goes up, nothing goes down -

a pheasant screams, leaves fall - my legs,
too short, will never reach the ground,
my head is well-nigh in the clouds.