They came to Bob Marley
And Corinne Bailey Rae.
Now they have come to me.
Three little birds, named
Belief, Love, and Joy,
With lyrics of affirmation.

Belief sings, ‘Have faith in yourself
And trust in God’s plan.’
Love sings, ‘Be kind to yourself.
You deserve compassion and care.’ 
Joy sings, ‘Let His light into your life,
And let yours shine out to the world.’

Three little birds bringing
My very own inspiration song.
I listen to them now, 
Singing outside my window,
And smile. So too does
My inner child. 

On and on they sing,
The three little birds, 
Telling one little girl
That she matters
And is worth a little song
Every bit as sweet as she.

Oh, if that one little girl
Could have heard 
This one little song 
From these three little birds
When she was still small,
How different would her world now be?

The story behind the poem

I wrote this poem in January 2018 while listening to birds singing outside my window after Fajr, the Muslim dawn prayer. Their chirping brought to mind songs by the two singers referred to in the opening lines of the poem, and I found myself wondering what the birds might say if they were to sing for me. I jotted my initial thoughts down in my Morning Pages and later shaped it into this poem.