Use an idiom from another language/culture as the jumping point for a poem.

a dog bitten by a snake is afraid of sausages
doesn’t mean the dog stopped craving meat
fool me once, shame on you
fool me twice, shame on me
like shame is a hot potato
no one wants to be caught holding
is that why we live in constant fear
of rejection and failure
too afraid of finding love
of admitting faults
as though human vulnerability is a sin
a weakness we cover in endless masks
so no one knows what we really look like
fear is being caught between a rock and a hard place
no one wants to make a move
lest they be exposed as a fool in a dunce cap
but fear has never satiated our hunger for more
a cat in mittens won’t
can’t
catch mice