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Literature, PoetryOctober 1, 2013

Parallel Lines

The scientist John Lilly said that The Library of Congress contains writings by Sigmund Freud on Cocaine that will never see the light of day.

 

 

Euclid wrote that parallel lines meet at infinity.

Acute pleasure converges

At that vanishing point

For idle youth

Who chug beer, drop pills, smoke a joint.

They are dumb to make hypotyposes

Of scintillas of Peru that fly up their noses.

 

Campesinos pluck the leaves

With the infinitesimal care of ants.

Pistoleros in the barrios snort and shoot

While The Policia shit their pants –

Because the powder is adored by US Conk-quistadors

Our First World yobs never notice or know

The microscopic piezo-luminescent glow

From chopping the blow.

Little-by-little the storm that strikes the heart grows –

It is for them the lightning tolls.

Still, the habit in Belfast grows

Like a DeLorean

Doing the white lines in the road.

 

~ Eamonn Stewart

 

Eamonn Stewart was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1964.  He trained as an advertising photographer and motion-picture camera operator, and studied Film History at The University of East London.  He is presently working pro bono as DOP on student/indie films.

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One last love letter...

April 24, 2021

It has taken us some time and patience to come to this decision. TMS would not have seen the success that it did without our readers and the tireless team that ran the magazine for the better part of eight years.

But… all good things must come to an end, especially when we look at the ever-expanding art and literary landscape in Pakistan, the country of the magazine’s birth.

We are amazed and proud of what the next generation of creators are working with, the themes they are featuring, and their inclusivity in the diversity of voices they are publishing. When TMS began, this was the world we envisioned…

Though the magazine has closed and our submissions shuttered, this website will remain open for the foreseeable future as an archive of the great work we published and the astounding collection of diverse voices we were privileged to feature.

If, however, someone is interested in picking up the baton, please email Maryam Piracha, the editor, at maryamp@themissingslate.com.

Farewell, fam! It’s been quite a ride.

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