Mamacita says:  I could not find a picture of Sara Henderson Hay; every time I thought I’d found one, it turned out to be a bogus site that threatened to shut down my computer.  I like Hay’s poems, but apparently Google images doesn’t.

So, in keeping with her poem’s theme, I chose another picture.

The Builders

I told them a thousand times if I told them once:
Stop fooling around, I said, with straw and sticks.
They won’t hold up; you’re taking an awful chance.
Brick is the stuff to build with, solid bricks.
You want to be impractical, go ahead.
But just remember, I told them, wait and see.
You’re making a big mistake. Alright, I said,
But when the wolf comes, don’t come running to me.

The funny thing is, they didn’t; there they sat,
One in his crummy yellow shack, and one
Under his room of twigs, and the wolf ate
Them, hair and hide. Well, what is done is done.
But I’d been willing to help them, all along,
If only they’d once admitted they were wrong.

===

As usual, we could discuss rhyme scheme and symbolism, a little hyperbole, some alliteration, and first person narration, but isn’t this poem really about giving unasked-for advice that would have made a positive difference, and wishing we could say “I told you so” when someone disregards us, thus screwing up royally?

Not that any of us would gloat or anything.  Other people, maybe, but not any of us.

Smirk.