New book by Paco Mármol, poet and lyricist of flamenco

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A son of Andalusian emigration to Catalonia, Paco Marble Moreno, born in 1947 in The Puebla de Cazalla, people so flamenco de Sevilla, and resident in El Prat de Llobregat, excitedly delivers his eighth book to us. His books, like the ones the song said Cecilia, full of poetry, and, of course, of flamenco, either like the one we are dealing with, Poems of my twilight, from poems dedicated to aspects of the same with varied metrics, or, directly, flamenco lyrics, which are also poems, intended for cante that he knows so well. This is because his knowledge has led him to write what we indicate, but also to spread the good news of flamenco through conferences, recitals, radio programs, speeches, etc., at different times and institutions over many years.

He speaks in the title of his twilight, referring, of course, to the vital period in which he finds himself, but it is an intense, worked, fervent twilight, dedicated to poetry and art. flamenco. A work for which he has received some awards for poetry or flamenco lyrics such as Día de Andalusia de Gilena –Seville–, Caixa de la Caixa Competition Barcelona, several prizes for flamenco lyrics from the Association of Children of Almáchar de Barakaldo, or that of his people, that of flamenco lyrics of the award Francisco Moreno Galvan, named after this well-known painter and lyricist to whom he also dedicates his verses. Among others, they have sung his lyrics, live or on record, Lolo from Jerez, Rubito de Pará father and son, Antonia contreras, Manuel Gomez the Ecijan, etc.

We can listen to Rubito Pará father, by Colombian, with Child sponsorship and palmas de louis gold y Joaquin Gonzalez, in this video:

These are the gifts that life has deservedly given to the literary career of Paco Mármol, who has been retired for years after having worked hard in various places such as Ibiza, Madrid, France, The Netherlands, Barcelona and, of course, his people at the beginning, before the dreaded emigration. This memory of his small homeland, the largest, will be reflected in his books, also in this one. Let us remember that some titles of his works are Andalusian roots o Flamenco lyrics from the Moorish countryside –those from La Puebla de Cazalla are called Moriscos–.

The prologue is by his countryman and friend Pepe santos, which defines him as one of the greatest ambassadors of Andalusian culture in CataloniaAs the author clearly points out, he does not forget all aspects of life, his life and that of flamenco, his roots, his memories, his sorrows and his joys, his family. He mixes poems already published, well received by readers, and other unpublished ones, in different metrics, from the sonnet to free verse or the meter of the flamenco. Even some curious and attractive haikus appear flamencos, like these:

Spring
splash of orange blossom
my entire sidewalk.

Sizzles
the wood of the olive tree
in the fireplace.

It's no small thing
go celebrating
more New Year's Eve.

Among some more prosaic poems or others about specific people in his environment, as well as about social themes, which do not always take on the universal flight necessary for poetry, we will find others that bring us closer to figures of art, thought or literature, as well as to flamenco, with solvency. A Lorca, Antonio Machado o Bécquer, some of his references. He dedicates the poem to the first one Tears in Andalusia over the death of a poet, with the predictable neo-popularist tone:

Riders on the roads
from the Granada plain
They were giving the news
with the ringing of bells.

(...)

And the voice of Manuel Torre
with a deep moan
It was a ship adrift
that was carried away by the river.

A section is dedicated to poems by artists flamencoto your liking, such as The Girl from Puebla, Enrique Morente, Lebrijano, Shake, Juan Mojama, Antonio Mairena, Phosphorite, etc. Of her fellow countrywoman La Niña de la Puebla she writes:

The elves flamencos
they dressed up
hearing your voice
crystal clear and clear.

We can hear her in granaína in this recording with Henry of Melchior the program The Gate of the Cante from Canal Sur, year 1989.

And the sonnet to Morente ends with this laudatory triplet:

Turn around palmas deaf that cry,
Glory is celebrating with Morente
who sings a Taranto with Sabicas.

Another success of the book is its flamenco lyrics, of different palos, who knows them like the back of his hand and some of them have been taken to cante live or in recordings. They are in the final chapter New flamenco lyrics –pp. 181-228–. We see contributions by soleares, seguiriyas, fandangos, malagueñas, verdiales, tangos, bamberas, guajiras, serranas, garrotín, bulerías, bulerías por soleá, farruca, caracoles, toná-martinete, alegrías and cantiñas, alboreás, colombianas and cantes of threshing. A good mosaic of cantefrom different flamenco areas, varied rhythms and beats, themes, literary tones, etc. I offer some of those that have reached me as a tasty farewell:

Solea

They can't stand each other,
impossible loves
They are the ones that grab you the most.

The bed where I slept
It even changed color
to see my little sorrows.

Fandango

A man was crying one day
because his beloved left him,
and in her tears she told me:
I put my hope in her
and it was my ruin.

Tangos

If Leonardo had seen
How beautiful your smile is,
I would have painted you
instead of the Mona Lisa.

bulerías

It came from lava from the river
with her wicker basket
and her clothes got wet.

Bulerias por soleá

At the edge of the sea,
with hands linked
your lips taste like salt.

Threshing

When the night Comes
there in the era,
I think about taking off the brooch
to my brunette.

→ Paco Marble, Poems of my twilight, 2024.