A Lesson in Portuguese

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By Arnaldo Batista

A is plain. Á is the same,
as A but more striking:
            ce-a-RÁ :: a-NA-pho-ra
            a-NÁ-li-se :: a-NA-pho-ra

à and  are equal in phonetics
but not in placement.
They are low moans,
a dense steel door in your throat
to croak open uhhhhh
            at-lân -ti-co :: un-til
            ma-çã :: son :: un-do

When my mother learned of the new
woman in her life, she groaned the Ô
in her name for months:
            Mô-ni-ca :: moans

When my father spent the divorce
blaming my mother and Mô-ni-ca
all he could say:
            vo-cê :: e-ve-ry-thing
            vo-cê :: em-pty

When I told the social worker
I was hungry from not being fed
she said aww
which sounds like Ó but not quite,
like a slant rhyme of plain/same,
yet audible in tone
            vo-VÓ :: AWE
            Ó-leo :: OPT-i-mal

Still, nothing is more testament to Portuguese
than the lh, a rolling off the tongue,
not unlike the Spanish trilled rr,
not unlike the slick hills of parental abandonment.
For this one, you must tickle
the roofs of your mouths (like father
tickled Mô-ni-ca’s)
and expand.

And release.
            fi-lha :: a-lea
            fi-lho :: in lieu of

Arnaldo Batista graduated from Florida International University with a degree in Physics and Interdisciplinary Studies. He’s a queer, polyglot, dog-loving, Gen Z Miamian poet with a passion for all things beautiful, hoping to use his craft to amplify the diminished voices across the world. Arnaldo Batista’s work is forthcoming in Lucky Jefferson’s literary journal and Florida State Poet’s Association 2020 anthology and is also a finalist for Gival Press’s Oscar Wilde Poetry Prize of 2020.