The songbird’s influence

when voiced in misty breath,

covered in soft lapping oceans

and the salt air that surrounds

the island, yellow stoned, steeped

in history, steep to trace the steps

that lead on high to a safe harbour

in a paradise, that voice, haunting,

exotic and beautifully feminine,

captures my soul

as I listen entranced, as I read

rapt and spellbound;

there is after all

a voice in the blue aquatic sea

that sounds a perfect pitch bell

of the divine and sultry

healed perfection.

Dedicated to Miriam Calleja, Maltese poet.

Ian D. Hall 2016