Portuguese Lessons

Dificuldade,
My tongue feels its way
From dee to fee,
Each sound a fresh opportunity
To trip over a new old sound,
On past fee, but careful not to touch
Tongue to front gum
For a nice Portuguese ell,
An exhaled long u promises relief
Only to be cut short
By an easy hard dee followed
By an accented ah of a sigh,
And finish with a soft gee.

He told me his name,
But I could only think of
Who-bains,
Written, Rubens.

Then, there was Hooch.
It broke my heart to tell her
That her name meant Maria louca*,
Then she wrote it on the board,
Ruth.

*Pronounced similarly to Spanish “Maria loca”