Desfrutar means to “enjoy” in Portuguese
And I want to enjoy writing because it was gifted to me by the gods
I want to desfrutar it, which has the word fruta in it, Portuguese for fruit
I want to take a big bite out of it, as if writing were a mango
Amber words like nectar trickling down the sides of my mouth
I catch them with a napkin
I can’t tell mangoes and words apart
Giselle Boustani-Fontenele is a poet, theatre artist, and Akashic Records reader based in Los Angeles. She is first-generation American, with Iranian-Jewish and Brazilian heritage. Her publications include “Saudade” in Los Angeles Poet Society’s Acid Verse Literary Journal Vol. 3: The MixTape (2024), as well as “The Sound of My Spirit” and “Still a Daughter of Iran” in Dooneh Zine Issue No. 5 (2022).
