nameplay (trocadilho)

elly belly boo,
you know I love you;

elly belly belfort you,
vera¹ veronica,² mattos too;

you are bella, you are forta,³
and I love you fortly, belza

you are fofa, fofazofa,
fofazinha, not gatinha⁴

where there’s mattos,⁵
there’s a forest:

trees are better
than these letters

you’re a tree sprite,⁶
you’re a fae thing,

elly belly—
not a plaything

trocadilho (nameplay)

elly belly boo,
eu te amo, amo você;

elly belly belfort—vous—⁷
vera veronica, mattos too;⁸

ella bella, ella forta
eu te amo fortly, belza;

você fofa, fofazofa,
fofazinha, não gatinha;

existe mattos,
há floresta.

.

Espírita da árvore!
Criatura feérica!

Essas letras insuficientes—
os árvores são melhores.

1. Vera = true (Latin) ↩︎
2. Veronica is the middle name Elly doesn’t have. ↩︎
3. Bella = beautiful (Italian, Spanish), forta = strong (Esperanto) ↩︎
4. Fofa means cute in Portuguese; gatinha means kitten and is one of my nicknames; -zinha and -inha are also used to denote affection and intimacy ↩︎
5. Matos means woods/the bush ↩︎
6. The photo is of Elly [Veronica] Belfort-Mattos and was taken by Catherin J Pascal Dunk at a meeting of Sydney-Warrane Yarnbombing Collective. ↩︎
7. Vous = você (francesa) ↩︎
8. Too = também (inglês) ↩︎