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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
![](http://cdn.teenink.com/art/Dec07/WaterfallGirl72.jpg)
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This article has 9 comments.
wow, this is really great! i love the way you told a story about this girl, Francesca. It was well formatted. My favorite part was the ending stanza.
Check out some of my work, too if you'd like. Great job on this! Keep writing!(:
4 articles 0 photos 39 comments
Favorite Quote:
“We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”- dr suess
"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."
— John Green
I really like this! =]
Now i think i should learn to dance haha