I hear the spruikers' spiel and wonder

Is it true, or do they think

That we just give our wealth to plunder

Without thought, and will not shrink

From all their folly, and fall under

Such a spell with nod and wink?

 

For if it's true, as they are saying,

Everybody talks about

The product they have been portraying,

Why this brazen forceful tout?

And are they then perhaps displaying

Their own attitude of doubt?

 

If everybody's talking, why the need to advertise?

But if the public must be told, then someone's telling lies.

They're either rather wasteful, or they can't be trusted, so

I won't be fronting up to them to part with hard-won dough.

 

Tom Chapman