The curtain was black
The artists’ clothing black
Black was the night outside
In the darkened theater
For what seemed an eternity
Then came the leviathan
Swimming steadily toward the surface
Through the ages of time and
Within the souls of each gathered there
As she broke through the waters
The sky fell in a red wall of pain
Wailing, the gypsy woman’s voice cried out
Again and again riding upon mighty waves
Outside the leaves in the trees trembled
No word dared speak
No sound showed itself
So the spell began
A people had danced
On the edge of sword and flame
Now one of those wanderers
Danced before the hungry eyes
Of all who huddled together
For the comfort of something lost
There rising up from the ashes
Then settling down again and again
Fierce and proud was her beauty
Noble was her every movement
Attacking and feigning
Sailing, swooping, striking
Stretching up to her sisters the stars
Moving to the rhythm of ancient melodies
The guitars strummed and
Picked out each note with excellence
The singers voices sang on
Like a tempest of swirling emotion
Carrying all of our spirits with them
Along the course of the starry heavens
Together with the moon
They stirred the many waters
Given power from the sun
They penetrated every beating heart
Restless the caravan again moved on
Like Bedouins heavy laden with memories
To a land peopled with bazaars and silk
Overflowing with Jasmine and saffron
Tea, rosewater, bright red poppies and poetry
Rising up in the smokers contemplations
Hopes and dreams climbed and fell
With the waves of heat like a mirage
Hardships and persecution came
With riches, sweetness, children and tradition
But when oppression spilled over
Against her people
Like ink upon the parchment
The Firebird fierce as she was
Could shelter their souls
Like chics within her wings,
For only a few dynamic moments
Great and powerful was her magic,
Spreading out
In graceful complexity
In each step
Every challenge,
Every regal pirouette
Commanding head cock
Noble bearing and generous gesture
But this handsome people
Flowed like a river
Winding and cutting across the land,
A majestic life force
As free and indomitable
As the Flamenco’s fire of red and black
A people that could not be counted
A generation that could not be imagined
Nor could their spark be contained
So the Firebird in her great wisdom
Summoned that most monstrous of sea creatures
The Behemoth , commanding that he
Swallow up the vast stream of souls, and
Carry them far away to a place in the sun
Where they might live and prosper once more
The majestic and glorious Firebird
Having accomplished her mission
Bridled and harnessed the winds
Flying away with mighty strokes of her powerful wings
Over the curvature of the earth and sky
Through the suns rays and clouds above
Until she reached the mountains of red clay
That place of old
Where she and her children had once dwelled
But had long ago been cast out of
There the Firebird touched down
The people dressed in black
Pierced the silence
Filling the earth once more
With their enchanted music
The gypsies held each heart hostage
A prisoner to the rich
Undulating palpitations
Of their songs and words
Locking in our very being for a time
While the Firebird allowed her self
To unfold her magnificent wings
Dancing, strolling, strutting about
Stepping, spinning, posturing
Freezing still, statuesque
Gently moving, slowing time
Transforming herself into
A beautiful rainbow plumed peacock
In order that she might now
Express with exuberance
The Joy and pleasure
She had in the knowledge
That her people were safe
In the pride of sharing
The mosaic of their story
The artists in black played
Out of the black their voices sang
The curtain was black, and
Black was the night outside
Inside the darkened theater
For what seemed an eternity
Then, the Lights came up
With them the audience also
At once on their feet
Overflowing in emotions
Erupting with shouts and hands clapping
The Midwives together with the Firebird
Had labored feverishly and a child had been birthed
Arm in arm they danced and sang a little more
Once again the crowd stood up as one celebrating
Bursting with happiness and wonder
Swept up in the experience of the moment
While quietly hidden away
Intertwined with their effusive expression
Somewhere within themselves,
In the inner chambers of being,
They also wept, having taken hold of
The scarlet ribbon of the Firebird’s Flamenco
Leading back to the past
Remembering the rivers of Babylon
Running deep
Beneath the myriad blessings and pleasantness
Of this present season.
Brava, Bravo - Leilah Broukhim and fellow Flamenco artists
