Netherlandish Proverbs (1559) Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The poem

Pay The Duck

Quit throwing cream into their eyes
and blowing little ducks
the thief has a burning hat
and is pushing the facts with his belly
but the pussy cat will come to the tiny door

We see whose mother is spinning black wool
he’s in a drifting boat with the bark falling off
and he keeps hanging noodles from his ears
but slippery ground does not recognize a king
and the frog in the well does not know the great sea

Did an elephant stomp on his ear
or are his ears lined with ham?
Some still have tomatoes on their eyes
They bought a cat in a sack
who put fleas in their ears

Stop ironing my head
empty barrels make the most noise
out here at the end of the world turn left
because the carrots are cooked
and it’s time to pay the duck

The prompts

A to Z Challenge

slur – a curved line over or under two or more notes. Played legato without tonguing or changing bow direction
staff – 5 lines and 4 spaces on which notes are placed
staccato – the note is separated and played shorter with space between notes

NaPoWriMo

Prompt: find an idiomatic phrase from a different language or culture, and use it as the jumping-off point for your poem

PAD Challenge

Prompt: write a quirk poem.