Two Generals' Problem

(To J.N.G.)*

Two Generals stood on a hill

And both were General A

Like twins who started life as One

But found a unique way

You might sense they’re identical

Though they’re A World Apart

And neither knows how he might say

When the attack will start

So while the surgeons start their fun

It’s lucky that I’ve gone quite numb

The brain’s a body that’s begun

To think what’s gone has almost come

As one fine day Jim sailed away

So black and white must fade to Gray

And sail straight on passed Farallon

Where no one turns an EPIRB on

Reflecting is indifference
And Truth a one-way glass
That magnifies inference
Before its feel can pass

Maternal dust and swirling ink

Both scattered matter in the drink

Seek Five Alive and space to think

If you don’t swim you’re bound to sink


*James Nicholas "Jim" Gray born January 12, 1944 - lost at sea January 28, 2007 -declared deceased May 16, 2012.  Computer scientist and winner of the Turing Award.  Writer on many things including the Two Generals Paradox, a thought experiment demonstrating the problem of communicating over an unreliable link.