November 13, 2015. The date hangs over Paris like a static cloud. In the aftermath of the Bataclan theatre attacks, the world struggled to process the intersection of music, joy, and sudden violence. Elizabeth Boquet’s poem, Hide and Seek at the Bataclan, steps into this void. It does not offer comfort. It offers a mirror.
The poem utilizes the framework of a nursery game to dismantle our sense of security. “Hide and Seek” suggests giggling children, closets, and the thrill of being found. Boquet inverts this. The game becomes a survival mechanic.
The Cheaters and The Hiders
In traditional play, the hider wants to be found eventually. The tension is temporary. Here, the “hiders” are the attackers. Boquet describes them as “cheaters,” individuals who have accessed “ethereal hiding places” through the violence of suicide belts. They remove themselves from the board entirely.
This leaves the “seekers”—police, armies, and families—staring at empty sidewalks. They are searching for something that has already erased itself. The poem strips the attackers of glory, reducing them to rule-breakers in a game that no one agreed to play.
The Silent Conversation
The perspective shifts to the domestic sphere. A mother watches her son watch the television. The horror is mediated through a screen, yet the impact is direct.
“The Bataclan echoes, Come out! Come out wherever you are!”
This line, usually shouted with childish glee, transforms into a command of terror. In the context of the theatre, it is the voice of the gunmen or the desperate plea of rescuers. There is no playfulness left in the echo. It is a demand that goes unanswered by those trapped in “infinite hiding spots.”
New Rules
The most chilling aspect of the piece is the realization that the rules have changed. The speaker tries to “shove” these new realities into a silent conversation with her son. How do you explain to a child that the game they play in the yard is now a metaphor for life and death?
We are left with the concept of the “endgame.” In tag, being “it” is a temporary state. In Boquet’s vision, the distinction between us and them dissolves. The vulnerability is shared. The game doesn’t end when the streetlights come on. “Together, we’re all it.” We are all exposed, waiting in the open, indefinitely.
Paris, Bataclan context
