GOSSIP

MUSIC: EVERYBODY'S TALKING

When this wretched creature rears it's head,
It fills one's heart with woe and dread.

Think what your saying when you pass what you've heard.
Do you know that there's truth in every word?
And would it matter?
Have you ever played the game of Gossip?
Do you remember what happens?

~~~~~~~~~~

Who gossips to you will gossip of you.
~Author Unknown~

MY NAME IS GOSSIP

I have no respect for justice
I maim without killing
I break hearts and ruin lives
I am cruel and malicious
and gather strength with age

The more I am quoted
the more I am believed
I flourish at every level of society
My victims are helpless
They cannot protect themselves
against me because
I have no name and no face

To track me down is impossible
The harder you try
the more elusive I become
I'm nobody's friend

Once I tarnish a reputation
it is never the same
I topple governments
and ruin marriages
I ruin careers and
cause sleepless nights
Heartache and indigestion

I spawn suspicion
and generate grief
I make innocent people
cry in their pillows
Even my name hisses

I, AM GOSSIP

The Gossiper

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor.
Within a few days the whole community
knew the story.
The person it concerned was
deeply hurt and offended.
Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor
learned that it was completely untrue.
She was very sorry and went to a wise old sage
to find out what she could do to repair the damage.

Go to the marketplace, he said,
and purchase a chicken,
and have it killed. Then on your way home,
pluck its feathers
and drop them one by one along the road.
Although surprised by this advice,
the woman did what she was told.

The next day the wise man said,
Now go and collect all those feathers you dropped
yesterday and bring them back to me.
The woman followed the same road,
but to her dismay,
the wind had blown the feathers all away.
After searching for hours,
she returned with only three in her hand.
You see, said the old sage, it's easy to drop them,
but it's impossible to get them back.

So it is with gossip.
It doesn't take much to spread a rumor,
but once you do, you can never
completely undo the wrong.

Author Unknown
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
Editor: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Kimberly Kirberger

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