From the annals of my mind...

"When someone mentions Malta, what is your first mental image?"

(Question asked by Ivan Carabott)

RAYMOND MICALLEF answers...

Can't say as I even have a first mental "image" when Malta is mentioned. I guess, the closest thing to a first image I get of Malta is "me"! One could say that we each, metaphorically, are Malta because Malta is not just a rock, an object or a scene, but its also a people, a heritage and a way of life....something hard to describe in mere words.

Everything we do, everything we say, the character we project, these are in fact the essence of Malta, more so than any building or city.

Earthly images from the annals of my mind......

Swells...Western, thunderously crashing into the cove. The heavy plume of salty spray billowing skyward through a central hole, relentlessly reaching for the sky above, inevitably torn asunder in heavy wind. Qawra Point.

Bubbles...hurriedly rising....merging....separating....mirthfully remerging. Longing for escape from the trappings of a deep blue sea, as if expectant of a familiar athmosphere above. Glistening within the gentle background of a watery surface, shining in the penetrating rays of a friendly summer sun. Bubbles, slowy billowing from pursed lips as the body floats, upturned, ever so gently down into an imagined watery grave of childhood fantasy. Bahar Ic-Caghaq.

Earth shattering....earsplitting....deafening roars from the sky above, cheering from below. Pretty showers of sparkling jewels raining from a dark black sky over the valley below...flowers of explosive expression by artistic design. A festive mood...pride untold, and a sea of humanity praying, singing, eating and drinking in merriment. Is-Salvatur, Lija.

Horrible images....conjured up by stories of an inhumane assault from on high. The shrill sound of a siren breaking the mornings' academic endeavours. Childhood fantasies fueled by parental worry of a war that might yet be. Adult hackles raised in apprehension, as that same shrill sound breaks over the evenings' news in a far off country, three decades removed. Gulf War.

E-mail: Raymond Micallef

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