poetic journeys: the flamenco i never danced

The Flamenco I Never Danced

The flamenco
I never danced,
the compás muffled
in a cumbersome swirl of shawl,
in footsteps heavier than castanets.
The flamenco
I never danced.

  On the thistles
a butterfly fluttered
and the sun sweltered
the fields with lightning-flash resplendence.
 
  It was then I conjured
the flamenco
I never danced.

  Flamenco promised in creamy hours
of wished-for shade and painted Spanish fans.
 
  Flamenco of guitar notes glistening like needles
in proud and upright towers of hay.

  Flamenco coveted by icons
hand-clapping their forever prayers in churches.

~ Inspired by Federico García Lorca’s “Three Portraits with Shading: Verlaine”

*compás: the rhythmic units in flamenco

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“POETRY” Invitation: I invite you to write a poem of any poetic form on your own blog about a particular travel destination. Or you can write about travel in general. Concentrate on any intention you set for your poetry.

One of my poetry intentions for my Camino was this: Write at least two poems inspired by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca: Selected Verse: A Bilingual Edition:  “Portraits with Shading – Verlaine” p. 145 or “Venus” p. 147.  I used the poem “Verlaine” as my inspiration.  As I played around with creating this piece, images from both Spanish flamenco and the Camino begged to be woven together into one poem.

I wrote the first of these two intended poems, inspired by Lorca’s “Landscape” here: poetic journeys: a contagion of fireflies.

You can either set your own poetic intentions, or use one of the prompts I’ve listed on this page: writing prompts: poetry. (This page is always a work in process). You can also include photos, of course.

Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, April 3, I’ll include your links in that post.

This will be an ongoing invitation, on the first Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂

I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!