distant rumours

you listen and the words add up to naught
think harder and your value has been lost
the message comes and its sign soon is glossed
while all the time with meaning has been fraught
we half expect our souls to have been bought
by one or other trader who'd accost
any swift visitor and stay the frost
knowing so well just what it was he'd caught
this hour alone we find the spell deters
not only those who wish us so much harm
but the hard messengers who speak so plain
of all the injury that swiftly blurs
but such is the effect that any charm
will serve right now to keep off the worst pain