14 DAY TRIAL // A short poem written by a 14-year-old boy has gone viral after being published online because it can be read both forwards or backwards.
At first glance, Jordan Nichols' creation seems just a simple poem that describes a grim world where people care only for money, careers and power.
However, the composition with palindromic lines includes a secret message, as his meaning changes depending on which way you approach it. At the end, it includes an instruction that says “read from bottom to top now.”
If you read the lines backwards, starting with the last line, it becomes a lot more optimistic.
The teenager's poem presents a gloomy world, but also hope for the future in a really bitter message. It suggests that youngsters nowadays become conscious about the harsh reality at a very early age.
The 25-line reverse poem is entitled “Our Generation” and was posted on Twitter by Jordan's brother Derek on February 26. Since then it has been retweeted more than 146,000 times and received thousands of comments.
When Jordon's work started to go viral, his brother added on the social website, “His poem is nowhere near making this world a better place, but it's a step in the right direction.”
The Mirror says this piece resembles another poem called Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed when it comes to content and approach.
Read this... My 14 year old brother wrote this... Crazyyyy pic.twitter.com/RzvhJU1LUN
— Derek Nichols (@DerekNichols0) February 26, 2014