SAMAR AL-DEEK

 

 

When Destiny Writes Us

 

Destiny walks our roads

long before our feet arrive,

leaving quiet marks

on the doors of the heart—

signs we only understand

after we pass through them.

 

We think we choose the path,

yet it is the path

that opens its hand to us,

whispering softly

that arrival belongs not to us,

but to the step

that came before.

 

Fate…

that stranger who knows our names

before we speak them,

who knows our tears

before they fall,

who knows when we will rise

even when we do not know how.

 

We try to escape it,

only to find it waiting

at the end of a dream,

at the beginning of morning,

in the middle of every question.

 

And yet—despite everything—

it is no enemy,

but a hidden hand

gathering our scattered pieces,

placing us gently

in the very place

we feared to reach

because we needed it

more than we knew.

 

In the end,

we look back

and see that everything

had been walking toward us

the way light walks

toward un open windows

 

A Shadow That Passes

Without Looking Back

 

Destiny has no face we can name;

it is a shadow moving through us

the way wind slips through a window

we forgot to close.

 

It walks inside us without a sound,

shifting the places of things

as if rearranging the scene

before our eyes awaken.

 

Sometimes

it sets a door before us—

a door we cannot tell

whether it is open,

or whether we have become

transparent enough

to pass through it.

 

And sometimes

it leaves a small stone

in the middle of our path,

a stone that does not halt our step,

but reminds us

the road was never ours

alone.

Fate…

neither promise nor threat,

but quiet signals

glimmering in the dark,

telling us

that what we fear

may be the very thing

waiting for us

to arrive

so we can become whole.

 

And in the moment

we believe we are lost,

destiny drifts beside us

like a gentle apparition,

leaving on our shoulder

a touch

we cannot tell

is reassurance…

or an invitation

to walk further.

 

SAMAR AL-DEEK

 

SAMAR AL-DEEK is a poet, critic, and novelist residing in France, originally from Syria. She holds a Bachelor’s degree and a diploma in Arabic language from the Syrian University. She worked in teaching for thirty years in Syria and Algeria. Many newspapers and magazines have published interviews about her literary experience. She has published books in poetry, criticism, and novels, including: • Beyond the Mirage • On the Shoulder of the Day • Poplar Roots • Modern Critical Studies of Several Elite Writers • The novel Yasmine Soumari She has been awarded an honorary doctorate and has been honored by numerous forums and literary unions, most notably the International Writers’ Union, headquartered in the United States. She currently works for the International Writers’ Union and teaches Arabic to non-native speakers in France.