The Happiness of Music

Visiting family always meant surprises
anticipated from my niece then a girl
who loved everything theater and song

whose tight curly hair & bright eyes
shone like a happy beacon of light

she remembers talk of a voice teacher
& the one time both niece and sister
practiced the violin

but the one memory that dances across
the pages of her mind is the visit
to a restaurant on a clear warm night

where the happiness of the girl seemed
simply to overflow & take flight

so when they walked into the night air
she believed they had left her behind
but not very far had she gone

for the landscape had small hills there
where she stood upon the top of one

hence she raised her arms spread wide
breaking into song to make us smile
‘the hills are alive…

my sister just smiling at the big voice
that filled the night and I sighed

© August 2017 Renee Espriu

This was first published in the Jamie Dede’s August Issue of the Bezine at https://thebezine.com.  The photo below was taken from the Public Domain Pictures and digitally altered.