flamenco beat

I’m not one for dancing
I soak up sights and write
rhythmic poetry
recreate castanets
romance of sights and lights

sitting in a corner
the slap of clapping hands
transforms into words
the dizzy whirl of skirts
Spanish fans, clapping hands

Kim M. Russell, 21st September 2023

Image by Joana Cordeiro Ferreira on Unsplash

This Thursday at the dVerse Poets Pub we are Meeting the Bar with Grace and travelling to Seville in Spain for some flamenco.

For today’s poetry form, we are writing to the Flamenca or Seguidilla Gitana,  a variation of the Seguidilla, which has a fast staccato rhythm. It is stanzaic and can be written in any number of quintains. It’s syllabic, with 6-6-5-6-6 syllables per line to imitate the rapid click of the heels of a dancer. Line 2 and line 5 have the same vowel sounds.

Grace has given us an example of her own ‘Flamenco in the Plaza’ and sets us the challenge to write a flamenca, with the theme and mood of our choice. She says that, if one stanza is not enough, we can continue to add more stanzas.

I must admit, it’s not my cup of sangria, but I gave flamenca a go. I couldn’t think of a theme or mood to fit it, so I went with flamenco dancing.

27 thoughts on “flamenco beat”

  12. This poеm bеautifully capturеs thе еssеncе of thе flamеnco bеat. Thе vivid imagеry and rhythm in your words makе it fееl as though I’m right thеrе, witnеssing thе dancе and fееling thе еnеrgy of thе pеrformancе. It’s fascinating how you’vе translatеd thе dancе into “rhythmic poеtry” and “rеcrеatе castanеts.” Your ability to convеy thе romancе and vibrancy of thе scеnе through words is imprеssivе. Thе last stanza, whеrе “thе slap of clapping hands transforms into words,” is particularly еvocativе, highlighting thе powеr of art to inspirе and transport us. Grеat work! 👍👌😊

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