A man lay on the railway track

And waited calmly for his train.

Approaching fast, it ran him down;

He quivered and got up again.

 

This feat of mind over matter

Was the subject of much chatter.

He did the tour of the bars,

Showing everyone his scars.

 

‘My destiny was to survive;

I knew I would come out alive.

It’s true I teetered on the brink,

But all turned out quite well, I think.’

 

Becoming famous far and wide,

He took the plaudits in his stride:

Interviews and gala lunches,

Flowers sent each day in bunches.

 

Until one day he met his niece.

‘I'm still’, he ventured, ‘in one piece.’

‘No,’ she replied, ‘it’s plain to see;

You are divided into three.’

 

The moral of this tale is plain.

If you should argue with a train,

A famous role you may enact;

The challenge is to stay intact.