08
Unyielding
in our head
the thought of water
and our gaze aqueous.
Asking
what our eyes bespeak
is pointless.
From water
no sound issues forth,
and no sound remains
in its hold.
Insistenti
ġo rasna
l-idea tal-ilma
u ħarsitna fluwida.
Nistaqsu
x’inhuma għajnejna
ma jrendix.
Mill-ilma
ma jqumx ħoss,
u ħoss ma jżommx
ġo ħoġru.
09
Look, everything has receded.
Down to sounds,
one by one,
falling dead
in our laps;
and there’s nothing to revive them,
not even our lips.
What could
this water be, so still
as far as our sight can carry?
Our eyes open,
as if within them
the horizon awakes.
Ara, kollox ċeda.
Sal-ħsejjes,
wieħed wieħed,
waqgħu mejta
f’ħoġorna;
u m’hemmx x’jirxuxtahom,
lanqas fommna.
Xi jkun
dan l-ilma mank imkemmex
sa fejn tagħtina l-ħarsa?
B’għajnejna miftuħin,
donnu ġo fihom
iqum ix-xefaq.
10
Yes,
you may
lose your eyes
forever;
they might
never return
to your face.
If
the water takes them
the sky will swallow them up.
Have you ever
seen pools
not taken up
by blueness?
Iva,
għandek mnejn
titlifhom għal dejjem
għajnejk;
għandhom mnejn
ma jerġgħux
lura f’wiċċek.
Jekk
jeħodhomlok l-ilma
jiblagħhomlok is-sema.
Qatt
rajt għadajjar
mhumiex meħuda
mill-kħula?
11
To renew
the mortified pool of your soul
the sky sends water.
Have you ever
seen it looking at you
once more
after rain?
Renewing you,
and letting go.
Lest you
bind it through your gaze.
Biex iġedded
l-għadira umiljata ta’ ruħek
jibgħat l-ilma s-sema.
Qatt
rajtu jħares lejk
darb’oħra
wara x-xita?
Iġeddek,
u jitilqek.
Li ma tmurx
torbtu b’ħarstek.
12
What’s there
to keep
of your soul?
Water
escapes
from your hands
and the sun and wind
dry them up.
You’d be burying it
in a desert if you
bury your face.
in your palms.
X’hemm
xi żżomm
minn ruħek?
Jaħrabl-ilma
minn idejk
u x-xemx u r-riħ
inixxfuhomlok.
Fil-pali,
tkun tidfnu ġo deżert
jekk tidfen wiċċek.
Gioele Galea read theology at the University of Malta. For fourteen years, he led a solitary life in a hermitage. He has published seven collections of poetry, including Ifrixli Ħdanek Beraħ (Malta: PalPrints Publications, 1996), Dija (Malta: Carmelite Institute, 2012), Bla Qiegħ' (Horizons, 2015), Għera (Malta: Horizons, 2018), Ilma (Malta: Horizons, 2022), al of which give witness to an uncompromising spiritual journey where bareness is as overwhelming as it is essential. Galea has also published two prize-winning hybrid memoirs, Tħabbat Xtaqtek (Malta: Horizons, 2017) u In-Nar Għandu Isem (Malta: Horizons, 2020). His poetry has been translated into English and Arabic.
Abigail Ardelle Zammit is a Maltese writer, editor and educator whose poetry and reviews have appeared in international journals and anthologies including CounterText, Black Iris, Matter, Tupelo Quarterly, Boulevard, Gutter, Modern Poetry in Translation, Mslexia, Poetry International, The SHOp, Iota, Aesthetica, Ink, Sweat and Tears, High Window, O:JA&L, The Ekphrastic Review, Smokestack Lightning (Smokestack, 2021) and The Montreal Poetry Prize Anthology 2022 (Véhicule Press, 2023). Abigail’s poetry collections are Leaves Borrowed from Human Flesh (Etruscan Press, Wilkes University, 2025), Portrait of a Woman with Sea Urchin (London: SPM, 2015) and Voices from the Land of Trees (UK: Smokestack, 2007). She has co-authored two bilingual pamphlets (Half Spine, Half Wild Flower – Nofsi Spina, Nofsi Fjur Selvaġġ) and written A Seamus Heaney guidebook for high-school students.