IV

Log in the Water
     Will that trout tell me how one is supposed to swim? That half-wit! Why, he's going against the current!

Mayfly
     A hundred year-old turtle? How can something be so terribly fossilized?

Grub
     Winter? I survived that a long time ago.

Mouse
     Hm, birds. Such relics! I cannot comprehend how anyone can be a bird.

Sparrow
     Is the lark right? Out of the question. There is only one truth and that is the sparrow's.

Snail
     For example the straight line is unsound, because it is not a spiral.

Hood Ornament
     It's me who's steering the car. I'm driving.

Sedimentary Rock
     We don't recognize the existence of any crystal quartz.

Nettle
     Is this garden abandoned? I wouldn't say so.

Fly
     Do you see those flyspecks on the picture frame? That is my work, sir. I too am a painter.

Carp
     No living thing can survive in the air.

Scrap in the wind
     Up and away! Now we can fly!

The Qualified Caterpillar
     Botany? That's my field.

Gravel
     I've honed myself mentally to attain gravel-hood.

Ass
     Fie! Such serious times--that cherry should be ashamed to bloom so!

One in an Anthill
     I've already got it. The twentieth century demands collectivity.

Flea in a Dog's Fur
     We've paid off the neighbor's dog Vořech, right?

Stink Bug
     Just so you know, I reek in the name of all stink bugs.

Dried Leaf
     The imperative of the times? We know what it is: to rustle in the wind.

Smoke
     You're all slaves to matter. Only I am free. And the clouds.

Laundry on the Line
     I am a banner and I wave! Behind me, men! Into battle!

Droppings
     Am I mineral? Animal? What an existential problem!

Dried Mud
     Only the hard stone will prevail. And I am stone too.

Rot
     I too go with the times.

LN 9 April 1933