At first glance, the short poem written by 14-year-old Jordan Nichols appears to be like a miserable reflection on a world where people care only for money and power.
But the US teen's seemly depressing poem has gone viral on Twitter because it holds a hopeful and inspiring secret message.
The poem appears to accuse Nichols' generation of being a "failure", and of "giving up" instead of "changing our world for the better". But read the poem backwards and its meaning totally changes.
Nichols' poetry was posted to Twitter by his older brother Derek, and has since between passed on by more than 140,000 people. "His poem is nowhere near making this world a better place, but it's a step in the right direction," Derek tweeted as his sibling's work started to go viral.
He joked that his "famous poet" brother "better do my English homework for me".
Jordan's reverse poem is very similar in style to a poem called Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed, which also seems to paint a bleak picture of the world until it's read backwards — though Derek brushed off the similarities on Twitter.
Here's the transcript of the poem:
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But the US teen's seemly depressing poem has gone viral on Twitter because it holds a hopeful and inspiring secret message.
The poem appears to accuse Nichols' generation of being a "failure", and of "giving up" instead of "changing our world for the better". But read the poem backwards and its meaning totally changes.
Nichols' poetry was posted to Twitter by his older brother Derek, and has since between passed on by more than 140,000 people. "His poem is nowhere near making this world a better place, but it's a step in the right direction," Derek tweeted as his sibling's work started to go viral.
He joked that his "famous poet" brother "better do my English homework for me".
Jordan's reverse poem is very similar in style to a poem called Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed, which also seems to paint a bleak picture of the world until it's read backwards — though Derek brushed off the similarities on Twitter.
Here's the transcript of the poem:
Our Generation
Our generation will be known for nothing.
Never will anybody say,
We were the peak of mankind.
That is wrong, the truth is
Our generation was a failure.
Thinking that
We actually succeeded
Is a waste. And we know
Living only for money and power
Is the way to go.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is a dumb thing to do.
Forgetting about that time,
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Changing our world for the better
Is something we never did.
Giving up
Was how we handled our problems.
Working hard
Was a joke.
We knew that
People thought we couldn’t come back
That might be true,
Unless we turn things around
Our generation will be known for nothing.
Never will anybody say,
We were the peak of mankind.
That is wrong, the truth is
Our generation was a failure.
Thinking that
We actually succeeded
Is a waste. And we know
Living only for money and power
Is the way to go.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is a dumb thing to do.
Forgetting about that time,
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Changing our world for the better
Is something we never did.
Giving up
Was how we handled our problems.
Working hard
Was a joke.
We knew that
People thought we couldn’t come back
That might be true,
Unless we turn things around
Our Generation - In Reverse
Unless we turn things around
That might be true,
People thought we couldn’t come back
We knew that
Was a joke.
Working hard
Was how we handled our problems.
Giving up
Is something we never did.
Changing our world for the better
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Forgetting about that time,
Is a dumb thing to do.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is the way to go.
Living only for money and power
Is a waste. And we know
We actually succeeded
Thinking that
Our generation was a failure.
That is wrong, the truth is
We were the peak of mankind.
Never will anybody say,
Our generation will be known for nothing.
Unless we turn things around
That might be true,
People thought we couldn’t come back
We knew that
Was a joke.
Working hard
Was how we handled our problems.
Giving up
Is something we never did.
Changing our world for the better
Will not be easy, but we will try.
Forgetting about that time,
Is a dumb thing to do.
Being loving, respectful, and kind
Is the way to go.
Living only for money and power
Is a waste. And we know
We actually succeeded
Thinking that
Our generation was a failure.
That is wrong, the truth is
We were the peak of mankind.
Never will anybody say,
Our generation will be known for nothing.
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