Page 143 Quotes

“I think
what happens to you
on most days
is not
what it mostly is,
but what happens
to you
randomly and candidly.

An unexpected road trip,
a moment of looking
at street vendors,
the first few drops of rain
hitting the ground
like a whisper,
an unexpected
lunar sighting
in its full moon phase,
a sparkle in the eyes
of children playing in the
apartment compound.

These are the things
that happen to you, not the
clocking in and out,
not the rehearsed hellos,
not the small talks
wrapped in the same old
wrappers of yesterday.

It's the stranger
who nods at you
like they have known your pain,
the dog that follows you
for three streets
and leaves without goodbye,
the last sip of
tea gone cold
while you were lost in thought,
a song on the radio
that you didn't know you
remembered but now
you are humming along like
it once saved your life.

It's the story the sky writes
when no one is looking,
clouds folding secrets
into their shapes,
the wind combing through your hair
like it belongs to
someone who still believes,
the ache that arrives
out of nowhere
and somehow
makes you
feel alive.”
― Sadia Hakim, The Weight of Tender Things