it had to be a dangerous night
the sky more dark than possible behind street lights
so many stars peering down through the haze and glare
to see the streets
but in the instance, the night itself
people were glad, celebrated
the heat had broken at sunset
mist cooled the air and the apartment walls
people in the bars dragged out tables and chairs
even the bands moved out, played on the sidewalk
folk, country, rock'n'roll and even salsa
over at Ricardo's mainly salsa moved the crowd
until out under an adjacent street light
a flamenco dancer appeared
oh, she stamped her feet and rattled castanets
she swirled her skirts and flared them
she bowed her head as if in prayer then tossed it back
her black hair hung like a heavy cape
except when she twirled
couple by couple the other dancers stopped to watch
the next bands down the street quieted
til only Ricardo's band and the flamenco dancer
filled the street with echoes
even though some claimed later
silence underlay it all as if the world held its breath
the lady twirled one more time and flared her skirts
a knife spun from each hand and pierced the hearts
of the pianist and the drummer
she twirled and flared again, knives spun again
and dropped the guitarist and the clave player
a third time and she took out
the bass player and the trumpeter
and in the sudden silence fled
somehow without a sound
what happened to her shoes and castanets nobody knew
where she went was no more known than where she'd come from
the bass player's girlfriend claimed she knew
about a girl the band members had passed around
but no one else admitted any such
the police said they found a flamenco comb
in an alley nearby
but nothing else
not even fingerprints on the knives
it has been a year now and more
and never since has any band played outside
people whisper about the flamenco dancer
and once a month police ask again
but anyone who knows anything doesn't tell, or hasn't yet
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