Rimes féminines [English translation]

To put my soul in an empty body,

All of a sudden, being another woman,

And that Juliette Noureddine

In one of them takes root.

Choosing among the eminent women,

The one who would make me a shivering one,

Among all of those who knew how to frolic,

Who knew how to love, who knew how to fight,

My innate sisters, my twins,

My scholars, and my silly geese

Julie, Juliette, or Justine,

All of my feminine rhymes

Clara Zetkin, Anaïs Nin

Or Garbo, in Queen Christina

On the celestial carrousel,

Choosing among these ladies,

Camille Claudel, Mam’zelle Chanel

Or the enraged Louise Michel

Living again as a dove, or a raptor,

Writing, singing, or doing tricks

Margot Duras, Maria Callas

Or even Kiki from Montparnasse

Being born tomorrow, being reborn yesterday,

Marching forward, marching in reverse

Embodying myself in these divergences,

These beauties, these intelligent women

And enjoying the fortunate demise,

To put my steps into theirs

Musidora, La Pavlova

Or my great-grandmother, that big mouth Teresa

Whether I have [their] mind, or [their] looks,

Or even both of them, please

Juliette Drouet, La Signoret,

Or the Great Billie Holiday

All sails set, or singing,

With one of them, rebelling

Flora Tristan, Yvonne Printemps,

Or the fierce Isadora Duncan

Having as their only weapon their pride,

and as a lover, freedom

The Brontë sisters, Louise Labé,

Or Lou-Andréas Salomé

Even if I have to pay the price,

To be the flower, to be the fruit,

To be Alice Guy, to be Arletty,

Marie Bubas, Marie Curie

But please, no birth,

nor youth, nor adolescence,

Spare me the pink room,

Be good, o metempsychosis1

Allow your Juliette

not to grow up as a trendy girl,

But as a Colette, a Mistinguett,

Or why not Madame de Lafayette

Take me, I’m asking you,

Instantly into the presence of the great ones

Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand,

Or that good woman George Sand

Place me beside the heart,

Beside the talent, the happiness

Loïe Fuller, Dottie Parker,

Or saint Joséphine Baker

Yes, immediately, in the fires of glory,

In the limelight and in history

La Yourcenar, Sarah Bernhardt,

Or the very wise Simone de Beauvoir

A silver voice at the bottom of a harbour,

A wordsmith of steel, or a heart of gold

La Solidor, Christiane Rochefort,

Or Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

The fearless belles without brood

All naked in the midst of the hail of bullets

Sylvia Bataille, Anna de Noailles

Comrade Alexandra Kollontai

And agitators of dives,

Brandishing hope and gouge

Olympe de Gouges, Rosa-la-Rouge,

And the old Germaine de Montrouge

The line of [female] dominators,

Ladies, Mesdames, doñas, or misses

Like Cariathys, or Leda Gys,

Angela and Bette Davis

The train of Devil and his she-devils,

Poisonous ones and tigresses

Lola Montès, Gina Manès,

And the poisoner Borgia Lucrèce

At last I have, to be sincere,

A taste for foul-mouthed beauties

Yvette Guilbert, Claire Bretécher,

I’d even go as far as Anne Sinclair

But if so many wishes torment you,

If it goes against doctrine

To aim for great karma,

Then bring me back in anonymity.

Waiting for everything to change radically,

For Satan to congratulate me

Or for angels to throw me a party,

Allow me one last request

Let your sista be reborn,

As anybody, as a factory girl,

As a nobody, or as a kitchen servant,

As a Croatian or as a North African,

As Éponine, as Clémentine,

As Mala Malika or Marylin

And if your ‘kitchen zodiac’

By chance doesn’t decide it,

I’ll accept, disciplined,

To come back as a show-off,

As a libertine, as a slut,

Even as Juliette Noureddine!

1. metempsychosis = reincarnation (literary word).