Cautionary Poems

A cautionary expose

fruit extravaganza
dream vacation
dinner bell
a word of caution
while time waits for no one


[using titles of my 5 recent poems]

AP: 1st place 2025

I Fear the ship is sinking

I am not one to keep a sinking ship afloat,
nor am i one to captain a drowning crew.
Sacrificing self for an inevitable end is a thirst never quite quenched.
Surrounded by water, what is the point when it is filled with salt; sorrow and a disposition for the petty?

Do not be the vain captain of a

A Cautionary Tale

Great is the battle, small the victory
  when all that is won is lost to mankind -
in this war of worlds its great casualty 
  is the fallen consciousness in our mind.
From spear tip and arrowhead to smart bomb
  or Ptolemy to Hubble looking glass,
Luxor hieroglyphs to CD Rom -
  from

AI - A Cautionary Tale

A happier couple, you could never see.
One blessed day, they would be three.
They'd enjoy a picnic in a park or beach,
Joe and his wife, Molly, a lovely peach.

I would say their lives were very much in check
'Til the day Joe became obsessed with tech.
"Where's our simple life?", Molly would sigh,
"Before electronic gadgets and AI?"

Soon, digital tools

Refurbished Nursery Rhymes: Old Mother Hubbard, a Cautionary Tale

When Old Mother Hubbard
Examined her cupboard
And found not a scrap there to munch on,
Not one morsel that clung
To an ort or a crumb,
She felt foolish and dumb
And stood sucking her thumb
While her dog, Butch, got nothing for luncheon.
"She forgot to go shopping again," grumbled he.
She just scratched his ears sighing,
"Sorry, pal. C'est la vie."
When pangs

SMOKERS CAUTIONARY TALE

SMOKERS CAUTIONARY TALE
 
In the haze of smoke, a cautionary tale,
I weave a poem of the cigarette's trail.
A tale of danger lurking in the ember's glow,
Of the destructive nature we all should know.
Behold the allure of the slender stick,
Burning down from head to toe in a eye's blink
With promises of relief & eradication of grief,
But

Love's Curse : a Haunting Tale of the Lonely Castle ,Part 1,

Once upon a time, in a castle so grand,
A girl lived alone, her heart in her hand.
Anyone who approached, seeking love's embrace,
Met a tragic end, a sorrowful case.

Her love was cursed, a bittersweet plight,
For those who dared to love her, faced a dark night.
Their hearts grew weak, their spirits would fade,
As they succumbed to a

Good Mr Prim

Mr. Prim provoked shame, guilt, and fear
In every heart, mind, and soul of Redding
Pointing his long, boney finger at whoever was near
Screaming out sinner, to hell you are heading!

Mr. Prim went to church three times a day  
Prayed morning, noon, and night
Walked the straight and narrow, never to stray
He would shun wrong and always

Cautionary Tale

Ditsy blonde mother of Red Riding Hood 
Sent her little girl alone to the wood…
Once upon a present time 
That would be a heinous crime, 
Mom and grandma for neglect would be sued. 

February 25, 2022

Syllables count: 10 and 7

Breakwater Marquette, Michegan

Technically, not a sea at all,
Lake Superior churns up its share of sea storms.

There is not a lot to do in Marquette, Michigan:
Except for high school drivers to "buzz the gut",
Or cruise past a courthouse where "Anatomy" was filmed.

You could smoke dope or drink underage
Under a disused, fourteen story ore pocket dock.
Rusted off shards of

Cautionary Couplets

CAUTIONARY COUPLETS

I hazard it has many times been said
That we have never lived if we’ve not bled

If you attest a life of no regret
I’ll wager you have never placed a bet

If in your time you never crash and burn
You miss an opportunity to learn

If you forever seek to others blame
Well they may seek to ever

Free Will

I smiled when the world was ended. I pretended not to care.
I thought it only fair you see, to suffer such indignity with some restraint.
You may think it easy, but it ain’t.
I recall when they were small, young and just reborn. They looked so forlorn,
and sad, as babies do; and not as bad or half

Halloween Guide

Halloween is here!
But have no fear! 
This is my guide so you survive. 

Beware the graveyards full of ghosts and ghouls. 
The graveyard is where you will see zombies feasting.
Stay in the light, form large groups, don't be fools.

Beware the alleys vampires hang about usually toff.  
One look in their eyes and… boo! You're

A Cautionary Tale For Halloween

A cautionary tale I have for you.
Trust no one that you see on Halloween,
especially whom you’ve opened your door to.
Trickery diabolical I’ve seen.
One Halloween while feasting with a friend
on Reece’s pieces (popular for treats),
the door bell rang. Who knew it was the end
of my poor friend? She thought they wanted sweets.
Three vampires with one alien

A Cautionary Tale

Little red riding boots hang from tiny laces
on a hook on a wall,
a warning for my granddaughter.

I would tell her,
there are wolves everywhere.
I would tell her
that there are empty boots everywhere.
I told her that the Fairy Tales are all true.

Yesterday while walking
we found several pairs of empty footwear
some merely discarded,
but other’s obviously the remains
of a

• Short Cautionary Poems
• Famous Cautionary Poems
• Best Cautionary Poems
• Read Cautionary Poems
• Long Cautionary Poems
• Cautionary Quotes