I'm looking for a poem by Hughes Mearns

AK - 47 ,

I encounter your expanded version of the poem on the se2600 board back in 2003. It had been slightly modified and CIA became TIA. For anyone who doesn't know, the 2600 group is an international, very loose, group of computer hackers (in the original meaning of the word - not the evil meaning concocted by the media). Local groups meet the first Friday of every month at 7:00pm - all over the world! Anyway, when I saw it posted it was listed as 'author unknown'. I wrote my own poem in response and aimed at the geek community. My poem, written on 10-4-2003 (look on se2600):

For that man upon the stair,
who must insist he's still not there.
For the things you do not say,
which is how he earns his pay.
For the tap upon your phone,
that hears the sounds when you're not home.

The time has come to take a stand.
It's up to us to take command.
Time to provoke, to get a clue.
It's time to prove what's said is true.
Is there a geek alive today
who can't outsmart the TIA?

So take that fear about the stair,
about your back, about your hair.
Don't be the target; don't run away.
Don't push his gaze upon my way.
Let's you and I and all us here,
teach shadow man to learn to fear.

Let's concentrate this very day.
Let's hear the words he does not say.
Let's make him cringe at sounds of steps.
Let's make his mind search out the depths.
Then all will see, even TIA,
that all geeks rule; they'll save the day.

It's a little 'cheerleady' but it got a good response from all the geeks I know.
-rain

The version you heard was a takeoff on the original by mad magazine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigonish_(poem)
this site is more accurate than proir posts

also the one with the EAC is inaccurate
EAC was established 1978, 79 years after he wrote it and 13 years after he died

make sure you get the "(peom)" part of that url or youll end up in nova scotia

I remember this from a 1970's children's magazine

Yesterday upon the stair
I saw a man that wasn't there.
I saw him there again today
I think he works for the CIA.

[edit] Poem
Inspired by reports of a haunted house in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada,[1] the poem was originally part of a play called The Psyco-ed which Mearns had written for an English class at Harvard University about 1899.[2] In 1910, Mearns put on the play with the Plays and Players, an amateur theatrical group and, on 27 March 1922, newspaper columnist FPA printed the poem in "The Conning Tower," his column in the New York World.[3][2]


As I was going up the stair
I saw a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away...


When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)


Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

The poem itself isn't Psycho-Ed, it is Antigonish, it was in a play Mearns wrote called Psycho-Ed, this is the whole original poem.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

The part about the CIA was actually from Mad Magazine it goes:
There was a man upon the stair

When I looked back, he wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I think he's from the CIA.

Here's another little poem my father taught me. Not sure of the source . . .

One dark night in the middle of the day,
Two dead boys came out to play.
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.
One dead police man heard the noise
And came and shot the two dead boys.

Hope you like!

Hi! The real poem was written as a song for a play called "The Psyco-ed", and it was published as "Antigonish". It goes like this:

Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

See you!

This actually goes like so:

One bright 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 each other.
The Deaf policeman heard the shot
And came to the scene right on the spot.
If you don't believe this tale is true,
Then ask the blind man, he saw it too.

I found this in a collection of Hughes Mearns Writings:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, skinny and stout,
I’ll tell you a tale I know nothing about;
The Admission is free, so pay at the door,
Now pull up a chair and sit on the floor.
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 each other.
A blind man came to watch fair play,
A mute man came to shout “Horray!”
A deaf policeman heard the noise and
Came to stop those 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 came walking by,
and kicked the lawman in his thigh.
He crashed through a wall without making a sound,
into a dry creek bed and suddenly drowned;
The long black hearse came to cart him away,
But he ran for his life and is still gone today.
I watched from the corner of the big round table,
The only eyewitness to facts of my fable;
But if you doubt my lies are true,
Just ask the blind man, he saw it too.”

This is the Original from his collections that I have found

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

Hope that helps!

I always thought this rhyme dated back to the time when Catholic priests were being hunted down in Britain so all knowledge of them would be denied even if a family was hiding them but their presence would be unwelcome as it would put the whole family in danger. Interesting that it is still being used for a similar modern surveillance society.

its called Antigonish by william hughes mearns

Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away When I came home last night at three The man was waiting there for me But when I looked around the hall I couldn’t see him there at all! Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door Last night I saw upon the stair A little man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away "Antigonish" (1899)

you can find info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hughes_Mearns

Hi, I'm looking for a poem too! It's a children's poem about a child and his/her parents having dinner. The child says pass the (salt), give me the jam or something like that but never says please. Does anybody know the name of this poem...I know Idon;t have much info to give you!!
Thanks,
Aisling

Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away

I know, I used to read an anthology of nursery ryhmes about 40 years ago and have always wanted to find the book. I could never remember the cover title, but I remember stories in the book.

I'm looking for that book as well (I think) As I remember , it had Hey Diddle Diddle, Jack Frost and something about "taxis ~ all illustrated very nicely -probably published in the late 1930's, early 40's
Is that it? Have you found it yet?

Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
"Antigonish" (1899)