---

Last night, I wandered into a world not my own,

Yet just as real than the ground beneath my feet.

There, love greeted me with open arms,

And I knew the warmth of a wife’s embrace.

Samira, my firstborn, danced in the warm colored room,

Her laughter a melody that shaped my days.

A second daughter, whose name eludes me,

Yet whose face I would know among a thousand stars.

In that dream, I lived a lifetime—

The cries after falls, the joy of small victories,

The ache of long days and longer nights,

And the yearning to return to my sanctuary.

But the sun shattered my world of shadows,

And I awoke to an small dorm room,

Where a voice reminded me of an exam,

As if I could measure knowledge

While my heart was breaking.

How could I focus on lines of text

When the echoes of my children’s laughter

Still rang in my ears?

How could I hold a pen

When my hand longed for hers?

They were never real, and yet they were,

Their absence as sharp as any loss.

The dream was a fleeting gift,

But its memory carved itself into my soul.

Now I walk with the weight of what I’ve known,

The phantom touch of small hands in mine,

The promise of a name: Samira.

For though the dream has passed,

It lingers.

---