Marrakech [English translation]

In the streets of Marrakech

drunken with scents and fresh mint,

under the pink walls and palaces

hidden by the bougainvilleas

I want to get lost with you.

In the medina streets

and from my place on the terrace

we will watch the Atlas snows.

In the souks, in the cafés,

the folks from the street or the palaces,

full of smiles and sophisticated,

know how to handle and spoil us.

Storytellers, musicians, acrobats,

all together on Jemaa el-Fna,

complete with rattlesnakes1

those that are whipped into submission2

Honey, oranges and fritters

Gnawas, riads and palm groves

basking in a golden light.

Ah! It's so beautiful, I want to go there!

1. I know there are no rattlesnakes in Morocco, but that's what is written.

She might have said "serpents à lunette" (cobras) but she didn't

"serpent à sonnette" can (rarely) be used to name a treacherous person, usually someone you know well enough for him to have had an occasion to betray you.

In this context, as a metaphor for shady people of the streets that would sound rather far fetched IMO2. the pun starts with "tous dans le même sac", an idiom meaning something like "making no difference between people", when you voice an opinion.

It has no real meaning here except "all together".

Of course the bag is also where the snakes are, but the pun falls flat since the metaphoric bag and the real one have nothing in common.

Now "dresser à la baguette" means "to use harsh methods for training an animal (or educating someone)". "dresser" also means "to erect".

So the pun means something like "whipped into erection/stiffness/rigidity", but that sounds plain silly in English, and the pun is weak to begin with, so I dumped it

• Artist:Riff Cohen