There once was a gorge,
In mid-west Tennessee,
That spanned twenty-one feet and one half,
It had long been preached,
That no creature could reach,
This distance so unsurpassed,
Why then should one try this impossible feat?
When unfathomed was its success?
Attempts had been tried, and consistently failed,
At this most inconceivable test,
At the end of this gorge,
Twenty-one and one half,
Feet away from the trials of men,
Lay a bounty of loot, and one golden boot,
full of secrets unknown to them,
Many had tried,
As hard as they might,
To reach across this space so wide,
But of course not one man,
Could ever succeed,
For man’s arms are much undersized,
Now there were two brothers,
Riding down the road,
On two horses of brown-coated hides,
As they passed the gorge the first brother suggested,
That they might as well give it a try,
Now this man’s name was Henry,
A respectable sir, with respectable manner as goes,
Before trying his hand,
He turns to the man,
He grew up with, the man he best knows,
“Dear brother,” he said, stepping out of his saddle,
“I do hope you do very well<
This impossible test will done at its best by you I am sure,
I can tell!”
Then reaching his hand out as far as he could,
Straining at arms widest length,
Henry pulled back,
Satisfied with his act,
Reaching four feet across the great space,
He turned to his brother shaking his hand,
“I wish you the best of luck at this time.”
And climbing his horse,
He watched with great pleasure,
As his brother began his try,
Now this brother of Henry,
Was a proud-hearted man,
The name of Peter held he,
He was sure as the sun,
That nothing was done,
That he could not better succeed,
Determined was he to make his name known,
Not caring so much as a hen,
Of the treasured loot, or mysterious boot,
But instead of exceeding all men,
“I will defeat not the gorge, but the efforts of man,
that not one may exceed my record,
Be it known to the world,
That unchallenged am I,
Be it known that my distance is better!”
With this he broke into a spirited run,
Sprinting across the plain,
Earnestly reaching the end of the gap,
Unflinching he jumped in his name,
He jumped, Oh he bounded,
Across the great gorge,
Reaching seventeen feet ‘cross the space,
And still to this day,
It has always been claimed,
That not one has excelled this vast length,
Now the gorge is still standing,
In mid-west Tennessee,
On the plains, with its boot, and its gold,
And no one since Pete,
Has reached seventeen feet,
No, no one has even come close,
And where then is Peter,
You ask at this time,
Does he hear of his feat unsurpassed?
Well, though quite large in number is seventeen feet,
It is not twenty-one and one half.