Adages

It is not always easy to recall
How much we should prefer prevention to
Its cousin cure. It's simple, after all,
To afterwards know what we ought to do,
Repair the damages that we can see
Explain the problems that we note arise
And then move on. The great difficulty
Is in awareness when the problem lies
Still in the future. Then we cannot point
To clear examples of what has gone wrong;
Instead, we have to gingerly anoint
An issue as a "problem before long"
And who believes that? Yet, as I have found,
I'd rather take an ounce than take a pound.