Homage to Brigitte Bardot
—God bless Brigitte Bardot for her courage and frankness.
“And God Created Woman…” yes, indeed—
Was there another female who came close
To how He crafted you? No man could spy
A single flaw in that Parisian breed
Of firm-fleshed structure right down to the toes,
Or in the mischief-twinkle of your eye.
“Sex kitten” was your epithet—men need
Perfection in their fancies, like the rose
Blush on the breasts of Galatea, prize
Of Pygmalion’s lust. You made us bleed
With longing in our guts for la belle chose
Between those perfect legs—to spend, and die.
DeGaulle claimed that of all the exports France
Sent forth, you were the very best they had.
You were the pure quintessence magnifique.
None of us could quite keep it in our pants,
And every male, from geezer to young lad
Dreamt of you draped in gossamer batique.
Jezebel? Lolita? In a trance
You waltzed through celluloid and drove us mad.
The magic of your curvatured physique
Or even just your sly come-hither glance
Could turn a pious priest into a cad,
Or make a shipshape husband spring a leak.
But best of all, you spoke for France’s soul—
You cared not for the canaille of Islam.
Like Charles Martel, you stood your ground to fight.
Brigitte Bardot took on the hero’s role
And spoke out freely, giving not a damn
For stupid bureaucratic rage and spite.
They say that every diamond was once coal—
You were a diamond from the first, dear ma’m.
You said just what you thought, and you were right.
As for your critics, dump them down the hole
Of left-wing cesspools. On top of them, just cram
The Macrons and the EU, nice and tight.
Joseph S. Salemi has published five books of poetry, and his poems, translations and scholarly articles have appeared in over one hundred publications world-wide. He is the editor of the literary magazine TRINACRIA and writes for Expansive Poetry On-line. He teaches in the Department of Humanities at New York University and in the Department of Classical Languages at Hunter College.
What a woman, in every sense of the word! Joe, your passionate and striking poem captures just what it means to be a beautiful, fierce, free-thinking woman of conviction in today’s world. It’s damning. The media and the powers that be made a caricature of this bold lady on purpose. Her right to express her views against the current thing should NEVER have been trampled on. All viewpoints matter… they didn’t want hers out there for a reason. I believe many are learning just what that reason is. Joe, thank you!
Susan, thank you very much. I wrote this last night, in half an hour — which always happens when I am enraged at something. In this case it was the venomous attacks on BB by so many mainstream media flunkies, just because she expressed her honest opinions about the invasion and pollution of her native country by alien garbage. The real thing that lit my fuse, however, was the priggish comments of some clergy and other religionists, who referred slightingly to her because of her sex-symbol charisma, and her many sexual relationships.
Brigitte Bardot will be remembered fondly and honored long after these damned carping critics have been shoveled into lime pits.
Dr. Salemi, I was just made aware of her speaking up for the “soul of France” in an article I recently read to which you have put a wonderful exclamation point! Bridget Bardot was the apotheosis of my dreams of womanhood as a young man, which you so eloquently expressed. I savored your poem and points of view and yes, I tried to see each of her films. Thank you for such an intricate portrayal which in my mind was that of a French goddess.
LTC Peterson, she was hotter than hot. That’s why parents and clergy found her so threatening. All the mothers in my neighborhood back in the 1950s and 60s tried desperately to prevent their sons from going to see her films. It was hopeless, of course — all of us begged, borrowed, or stole the ticket price to whatever she was in, and we cajoled the theater owners to admit us even when they knew we were under eighteen. No one can stop adolescent boys when they get a sniff of hot cheesecake.
Even as adolescents, Joseph, we found her quintessential sexiness prepossessing. Sadly, I hadn’t heard what she was so outspoken to have said, but I assume it had something to do with her country’s current occupation by the Islamic forces of darkness. Can we get a link to her published statements on the matter? Unless I am sorely mistaken, much of Europe is down the drain, and does Britain even have a monarch with a semblance of a spine? It doesn’t look that way, and the Fall of Europe is pretty much a fait accompli with worse yet to come.
King Charles had more guts when he was the Prince of Wales. I remember when he wasn’t afraid to speak out strongly against the stupid, tasteless modern architecture which was disfiguring Britain. He didn’t care about the anger he provoked.
But the sociopolitical mafia that actually runs the U.K. has apparently read His Majesty the riot act. He can now only make statements that have been approved by them, and that are orthodox expressions of left-liberal, progressive, Woke opinion.
Joe, Joe – get a grip, man!!!! I know even we were young once, but – heck – I don’t want you blowing a fuse at this stage in your life! A wonderful homage, superbly crafted (how lust spurs craft! You crafty old devil) and I particularly like the way you lead to that ‘dump’ on Macron and the EU, a marvellous and unexpected turn!
James, many thanks for these comments and for your concern. Don’t worry — I’m OK.
As mentioned in another comment, all viewpoints matter and deserve to be both expressed and heard. BB was a bit before my time, but is remembered by me for her acting, her beauty and later in life her fondness for dogs. As others have mentioned, her activism sort of passed me by, but so what – she had the right.
Thanks for marking the great actress’s passing, Joseph.
Thank you, Paul. I agree with you completely — all viewpoints deserve to be expressed and heard, regardless of anyone’s personal distaste for them, and regardless of anyone’s moral outrage or offended religious pieties.
Dear Joseph
Wow! What a fantastic poem. I was mulling over an “homage to Brigitte” but I certainly could not approach yours. That said, perhaps you’ve left me room also to craft a poem, from a woman’s POV. It’s not only men who appreciate her, but also women. She’s a modern Joan of Arc, isn’t she? Fiercely loyal to her country and a warrior for Christ. Vive la Catholic France! And she gives us women a model to imitate in the arena of our private lives. A “sex kitten”, of course, but only for that one true love of our life!
Sincerely
Mary Jane
Thank you, Mary Jane, but let’s be fair. BB admitted to having seventeen memorable love affairs outside of marriage, and there were countless others that she didn’t think worth mentioning. Like Charles Maurras, her Catholicism was cultural rather than doctrinal. She defended France, the true French people, and French culture, but it is wrong to think of her as a nun of the Immaculata.
This is a fantastic tribute to Brigitte Bardot, Joe. Even as I share grief at her passing, I have to smile at your bold and frank descriptions of her sex appeal. The line that made me fall on the floor was “Or make a shipshape husband spring a leak.” Woof! But going past the amusingly risque language, there is the tribute to a woman of courage and candor. I am often surprised when I hear about some beautiful bombshell who actually had cojones and could speak out against evil. I knew about Hedy Lamarr. I knew about Marlene Dietrich. I knew nothing about Brigitte Bardot and am grateful to learn now that she had a strong moral compass and had the guts to speak out — to try to defend her country from an invasion which too many turn a blind eye to. I’m sorry she’s gone because we need about 1000 more just like her on both sides of the Pond.
Many thanks, Brian. I always thought of BB in two ways — first as the sex kitten that boys of my generation lusted after; and second as the brave woman who dared to defend and support Marine Le Pen when all the Marxist savants and litterateurs in France were screaming insults at her and her right-wing party. And I know now that what unites these two images of her are freedom, and the courage to tell the authorities to swive off. BB didn’t listen to straitlaced sexual puritans, and she had contempt for gutless politicians and left-leaning intellectuals.
Vive la France!
Thanks for this clever homage to a screen icon. I like the way you make the poem topical with your references to modern France. Great read.
My own blonde goddess was Julie Christie. In the early 1960s she was in a BBC sci fi serial, “A for Andromeda,” and long before adolescence, I was head over heels in love!
Thanks, David. Julie Christie was a knockout, and I recall her roles in “Billy Liar” and in “Dr. Zhivago.” I was also enamored of Patricia Breslin and Sue Randall.
I’m glad you chose to address Mme. Bardot. She definitely deserves poetic praise, as all great beauties do — but especially for her outspokenness out of love for her country, people, and culture. You do a fine job of addressing both. Your paean to her beauty is graphically honest about her effect on men, and you end with what really sets her apart: “best of all” she speaks the truth.
Many thanks, Adam. This poem was written out of rage, but it was also an old man’s attempt to be chivalrous to a woman who seemed to have no defenders.