The Rules of Flamenco

Francesca was the girl
with the long brown hair
dark and rich like
mulch after a thunderstorm

boys told her she was pretty
but she didn’t hear
a word of their talk
she had heard it all before

decided she wanted to
run away at sixteen
she was ready for Life
without rules and ties

then she realized there
was no such thing

got locked up in jail
manslaughter or something

Mama wanted her back home
it had been eleven years
Francesca didn’t want to go
but she did anyway

At home she found
an old woman
she didn’t recognize
wrinkles everywhere

She met the old woman
They talked for awhile
Learned some things
They didn’t know before

The old woman was a dancer
Flamenco to be exact
Spinning and stomping
In deep red costumes

Dancing made her free
when she was young
and full of the same fiery spirit
that caused her to have a baby
At just nineteen

Francesca found out
she loved the old woman
she was the old woman
in some strange way



Now she was twenty seven
Much more beautiful
than she was at sixteen
though a little less pretty

She and the old woman decided
they were free as free could be
they spent all their money
on a one roomed space

Mirrors lined every wall
The floor was scarred
dented and scuffed
with the marks of dancing shoes

They hung a sign
“Alvarez’s Dance Studio”
in clean black block print
above the large glass windows

At first mostly young girls
from around came
trying to support
the crazy pair that taught

Then the young girls grew
into the fiery spirited youths
that needed flamenco
To stomp out their anger
but more of their fear

Francesca and the old woman
Taught these girls for years
The girls loved them
and couldn’t bear to go

So they didn’t
They grew into mothers
Flamenco dancing mothers
That bred flamenco dancing daughters

Francesca and the old woman
Loved the girls and women
they taught to have
power and grace

Francesca was proud of herself
and happy to follow the rules
of flamenco
it made her free