The Sirens’ Song

(Translated from La fille prodigue, poetry by Pascale Cormier, Éditions de l’étoile de la mer, 2014.)

The sirens are cruel

Because they have no gender

And me, I live

On the bed of an ancient sea

Near deserted wrecks

I could be a princess

I’d have a dress of azure and light

A slice of the future

Eyes with which to wonder

Was I that boy too wise?

I barely remember

I lived in a theater

The sky was so high

The more I put out the fire

The more it devours me

I press into my skin a bit at a time

I swallow myself up from the inside

From rock to rock

Night after night

I find only ashes

With nowhere to go

I have only the reflection of images

Castle ruins

My only private shipwreck

I dreamt of being beautiful.