Liaa Fernandez / that thing called tadha

Liaa Fernandez

that thing called tadhana

with self-translated lyrics by Armi Millare

i met you when i was fourteen
we were two strangers on a winding path

you were treading the way
leading to the sea

and i suppose i followed you
because i hoped

something like love
was waiting for me

we met only because oceans opened
and swallowed our mothers’languages whole

but we believed fate
would keep us safe from getting lost

do you remember the song

the one that goes

destiny’s storm
brought me to the warmth
of your arms

do you remember how in the absence of your love
you taught me about distance

if only briefly
these distances of our paths
gave us a home

for A

Liaa Fernandez is a Washington, DC-based writer from Metro Manila, Philippines. She completed the International Writing Program’s Between the Lines: Identity and Belonging in July 2019 through a full grant by the Doris Duke Center for Islamic Art. She is published or forthcoming in Overachiever Magazine, Marias at Sampaguitas, Maganda Magazine, and elsewhere.

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bio

Liaa Fernandez

that thing called tadhana

with self-translated lyrics by Armi Millare

i met you when i was fourteen we were two strangers on a winding path

you were treading the way leading to the sea

and i suppose i followed you because i hoped

something like love was waiting for me

we met only because oceans opened and swallowed our mothers’languages whole

but we believed fate would keep us safe from getting lost