The Backwards Rhyme: Peep Hole In A Barbed Wire Fence

While this poem has been in circulation for at least a century, no one has determined where exactly it came from.  There have been many variations of this rhyme, and it's name is also unknown.  It has been referred to as the backwards rhyme, the contradictory rhyme, hole in a barbed wire fence, and two dead boys, but one thing that remains true, is that it is a beloved verse by generations of children and grown ups alike.  It is thought it was widely spread as a "jump-rope" sing in the early 20th century.  I first read the verse in the 3rd grade.  I rapidly fell in love with it!  Below I have cobbled together what I saw as the best parts of the verse, and some "misremembered" stanzas to create what I think is a great version of the classic rhyme.

ENJOY!

Ladles and jelly-spoons, hobos and tramps,

Bug-eyed mosquitos and bowlegged ants,

The show is now over, but before you go out,

let me tell you a story I know nothing about.

The admission is free, so just pay at the door,

pull up a chair and sit on the floor.

It makes no difference where you sit,

The man in the gallery is certain to spit.

One fine day in the middle of the night,

two dead boys got up to fight.

Back to back they faced each other,

drew their swords and shot the other.

A blind man came to watch fair play.

A mute man came to shout, “hurray!”

A deaf policeman heard the noise,

and came to stop the two dead boys.

He lived on the corner in the middle of the block,

in a two story house on a vacant lot.

A man with no legs was just passing by,

And he kicked the lawman in his thigh.

He crashed through a wall without a sound,

and in a dry riverbed splashed down and drowned.

A long black hearse came to take him away,

but he ran for his life and is still gone today.

I watched from the corner of a big round table,

the only eye witness to the facts of this fable.

But, if you doubt my lies are true,

There’s one more man who saw it too.

A diminutive blind lady saw it all hence,

through the little round hole in a barbed wire fence.

--Unknown Origin

Early 20th Century

Coming of Age by G.W. Pomichter

(First printed in the Anthology:  An Eternity of Beauty)

We are the children of rebellion, grown from the seeds if idealism,

nourished through the trials of war, strengthened by victories and defeats.

We are challenged by the future and educated by the past.

Our imaginations will shape the world;

it is by our design that ages that follow shall be guided.

Our thirst for knowledge cannot be quenched by tradition;

it must be purged through innovation.

Though bound to our flesh, its shades are no matter;

And steered by our hearts to love in forms less configured,

but greater in capacity and substance,

we are strengthened by our faith,

but the thatch and stone and mortar under which it is learned is of little consequence.

Though, reverent to the creator, whose names are many, they matter not.

We are the future.

We have been called the centennials, the millennials, and Generation X,

but we are Generation extraordinary,

And we are: 

Come of Age.

Coming of Age by G.W. Pomichter

(First printed in the Anthology:  An Eternity of Beauty)

We are the children of rebellion, grown from the seeds if idealism,

nourished through the trials of war, strengthened by victories and defeats.

We are challenged by the future and educated by the past.

Our imaginations will shape the world;

it is by our design that ages that follow shall be guided.

Our thirst for knowledge cannot be quenched by tradition;

it must be purged through innovation.

Though bound to our flesh, its shades are no matter;

And steered by our hearts to love in forms less configured,

but greater in capacity and substance,

we are strengthened by our faith,

but the thatch and stone and mortar under which it is learned is of little consequence.

Though, reverent to the creator, whose names are many, they matter not.

We are the future.

We have been called the centennials, the millennials, and Generation X,

but we are Generation extraordinary,

And we are: 

Come of Age.

A Simple Soldier's Prayer

As a U.S. Army Infantryman, I have always held a special pride in my service, and in that of my children after me.  As any soldier, sailor, airman or Marine can tell you, rather stationed far "in-the-rear," deployed abroad or serving in combat, every day the warriors know who they are and what they may be called to do in service to their countrymen.  Below, a humble submission for you all, a consideration for you to peruse, and an ever present prayer from a simple soldier.

"May the almighty bless and keep me one breath to the next.  Forgive the lives I take, and heal the wounds inflicted upon me and those I inflict upon my brother.  Make my service pure.  Make me humble and in want for no praise, but honor me with pride in my service.  May my aim be true and my hands steady in common cause with my countrymen.  Give unto my family patience and gentle disposition to my calling.  Send blessings to my brothers and sisters in air and on the sea, and those before me and those behind me.  Give to them and to me the soundness of conscience and steadfast confidence that only our fellowship can foster, and bestow upon these, the warriors, the clarity to see beyond the battlefield to the peace and hope for which the noble blood of our company has paid."