the young barbarian girl
from espèce
Translated by Nathanaël
[ Note: “The young barbarian girl” is inscribed in the “sous-sols” (undergrounds) series of poems, which refers to miners who extracted bauxite in the department of the Var, the principal deposit in France of bauxite, which was of international importance until World War I. Saint Barbara (Sainte-Barbe, in French) is said to have lived in the third century in Heliopolis (today, Baalbek in Lebanon) under the reign of the Emperor Maximian. She is the patron saint of miners. ]
they live in the area
the young girl isn’t seen often
he doesn’t want her hanging around because
of the company
the elevator is broken nobody comes to repair
it
at first they would come
now it’s stuck between floors
the doctor recommends
they can walk up it’s good for the
heart
it suits him fine he doesn’t let her go down anymore
she stays locked up reads all day watches
through one and the other window the 2 windows
at night she prays
the father leaves on a trip it’s far
while he isn’t there the doctor returns
every day she scratches the wall with her nails
she makes a hole just above the bed
the light comes in it’s the third window
when the father returns she tells him that he isn’t
the father
and destroys the name
he answers that he isn’t afraid of the air she has
come in by this other window
to subdue her he lights a fire
she manages to escape hurtles down the stairs
without breathlessness young she runs fast and far
happy with her legs that run with her eyes
that see with her mouth that opens
she sees a rock the rock sees her
it opens its belly it’s to subtract her
but a passerby saw her and denounces her
the father delivers her to the authorities
he doesn’t like trouble she will be decapitated
before she will have to be tortured
her limbs are burned she is silent
her breasts are cut off she doesn’t admit
the father cuts her head lightning strikes
strangers come claim the body
the first name is lost the second remains un-
certain
it is no longer really possible to call her
yet they agree on the formula and
say
we have come to collect the body of the young barbarian
girl
