As A Dutchman living in Portugal, who has lived in Spain and on the ( Spanish ) Canary Islands in the past and is mainly communicating in English ( online ), I have a tendency to think in several different languages throughout the day.
Yesterday afternoon, while on a walk, the word poema ( Portuguese - as well as Spanish - for poem ) popped up in my mind. I realized that it means cougar or mountain lion in Dutch, like the word puma in English / American.
It also intrigued me that the English a poem is made up of the exact same letters.
This inspired today's creative write up and little poem, that you - depending on your language skills ( or use of Google translate or the recommended DeepL Translator ) - might enjoy or not.
The result is a poem in Portugese, Spanish, Dutch and English, with a tiny story included in it.
Fun fact / Backstory
For over a decade I have thought of writing a book in several languages. I started this ( idea ) back in 2007, when I was first learning Spanish in Salamanca, Spain. Back then, I was intrigued by the Spanish language and the little discoveries that I made while getting to know the language better.
One of my favorite examples was the following: the Spanish word lentejas ( lentils ). As a Dutch person, you would read this as lente jas, which can be translated to Spring jacket.
I remember telling my Spanish teacher, that lentejas was Dutch for Chaqueta de Primavera ( Spring jacket ) but that we only have so called Summer jackets and Winter jackets in The Netherlands, that we use to wear for about two seasons a year each.
Anyhow, if you're into languages, like me, you might enjoy word play. This has been an important part of my upbringing. Let's say that I felt playful today, so what follows is a short poem, that is not really a poem it might be a poema, in four languages:
Poema
Apoem
A poem
Uma poema
A puma
Poem!
Aaaaaa!!!!
End of the poema.
This was ( not ) a poem about a puma.
( Nao ) foi uma poema sobre uma puma.
Es una poema, pero no se trata de pumas, só de uma.
E agora não há ninguna.
Einde van de poema.
Gedicht.
Fim.
El Fin.
Vin.
P.S. I thought of drawing Hypersensitivosaurus and Old Croc talking or philoso(raptoro)phising about a poema but realized there were no pumas in the dinosaur age, so I decided to just draw a puma with a poema instead.
If you liked the above, you might like my earlier creative rambling and scribbling Hypersensitivosaurus Mood Swings Misty Mountains Dreaming about Tigers and Helpful Advice by Old Croc