Chair-leaners' champs

"I've told you before
a thousand times
stop all that leaning back!"
my mother used to scream.
"You'll wreck that chair!
You'll do yourself a damage! Stop right now!"
I didn't care.
(But once we had a second yellow chair.)

After countless years of practice
leaning back, twirling round, not falling off,
I count myself a champion
of recklessness on chairs.
Where's the competition?
No-one dares.

And then what happens?
You appear:
upside-down and sideways
with one leg in the air
spinning around spectacularly
you all but stretch the chair.

Hours of secret practice
still leave me far behind.
I'm really shocked.
I've met my match at last.

You force me to reveal my secret find:
I'm losing all my balance very fast.

Dennis List