Les voisines [English translation]

I have always preferred having girls as neighbours 1

Whose Chinese shadows undulate on the shutters 2

I invented a pantomime love story for myself

Where your stockings slip over your calves in gold and black

From my facing window I stroke the Plexiglas

I curse the technicians whose venetian blinds

Cut into slices the least meter maid undressed 3

I have always preferred having girls as neighbours

Who dry their lacy underwear in the breeze on their balconies

It’s a little like it’s you dancing when the muslin dances

Invited to the great ball of your cotton panties

From my facing window I stroke the Plexiglas

I curse those brainacs who invented the tumble drier

No more window shopping at the bras you used to dry

I have always preferred having girls as neighbours

Who empty out their wardrobes trying to reach a decision

In about an hour, you’ll choose the jeans

You’ll slip them on for sure in my field of vision

From my facing window I stroke the Plexiglas

Disloyal competition from your central heating

A dense cloud interrupts my trance

Then some heavy curtains and that's the final straw 4

Building renovations hide your palisade from me

A retirement home built in front of my window

On a line by their hundreds enormous girdles dry

1. French allows a shade of meaning here that doesn't work well in a literal translation to English - I have always preferred my (female) neighbours to my (male) neighbours. 2. This would be a reference to traditional Chinese shadow play https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_play 3. a "pervenche" was a female public servant handling parking violations. The name came from the colour of their uniform. The system was changed around 2001, but the name stuck.4. la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder le vase - literally the drop of water that makes the vase overflow