Palmas
by Garth Martens
Prepare, as if to shelter a spark, a frog, a little romance. Notice, in
drilling rain, the swells. A generous act, attention, palette
generous, arena generous. Guitarist or dancer will offer cues—I
don’t mean a piece of the alphabet. These scenes, there’s a lot
going on, a wedding or a glass of port, fathers mothers wintry
birches, a card table. Bell tower, these hands, clothespin. Starting,
they’re slapped like blocks of wood, or, inflected with humidity,
shrink-wrapped salmon. Streetwise, they’re soft as a rabbit’s
armpit, sonorous, three-fingered ringing or a full palm’s bass
wideness. Proceedings, older than parliament, you attend. Works
best when you’re jackass-y relaxed. Where the guitarist punches
syncopation, bear down, chop the electrocutioner’s watermelon.
Voices, like leather received abuse, spectres, kicked up in dirt, that
breathe. Your weight behind, rocked back. Before you, the circle.
Singer’s tobacco. Dancer’s pearled sweat. Shoulder twitch you
share, words you shout. In jondo, like solea or siguiriya, you pull
rope, swing sledge, grave elopement stone will split. Por fiesta, like
alegria, you’re alight in universal flutter, tits up, plumed. Some say
palmas is the servant to someone what you want how you want it.
No. Palmas serves what happens Steady brevity of the veiled
sweep—. At length, killing mosquitoes, at length, biding time.
Note: Palmas is a form of handclapping percussion accompaniment in flamenco that punctuates and accentuates flamenco dance, song, and guitar.
Garth Martens is a poet and flamenco artist. His first book Prologue for the Age of Consequence (Anansi, 2014) was a finalist for Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Martens is also a past winner of the Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. His latest poetry collection is Who Else in the Dark Headed There (Biblioasis, 2026). His work appears in Dark Mountain Project, Poetry Ireland, Hazlitt, Fiddlehead, BODY Literature, Hawkeye Magazine, and Best Canadian Poetry. He is also a co-founder, producer, and performer for Palabra Flamenco, a literary flamenco ensemble that joins traditional flamenco dance and music with poetry and oral storytelling. Find him on Instagram @garthmartens