Author's Note:
"Mud sticks" is a mainly British idiom, meaning that people are likely to believe something bad that is said about someone, even if it is not true.

When I wrote this, I never imagined I would have to explain what "mud sticks" refers to, knowing it to be a common idiom in my country. However, reviews show me that it is an unknown phrase to some.

The main point of this tanka hangs on understanding the concept of "mud sticks" - are reputations safe from gossip? Can we take things at face value? How do we know if someone is genuine? ...and how open to hurt are we if we do accept someone and it turns out that what people said about them was true?

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