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Literature, PoetryApril 7, 2015

The Strength

Thomas 72, by Jihane Mossali. Image courtesy the Artist.

Thomas 72 by Jihane Mossali. Image courtesy the Artist.

when I think about how many hours
I spent with a cough on my lips my lungs
the coal of my asthma, on the field, the pitch
a sort of arena in which I pushed myself
as a child to run as far and fast
over the earth as a horse, my chest
a knot, my breath a sort of ragged
fuse of smoke. How many miles
or days I must have spent in mud my boots
pinching my toes, the ball a rock. I
was the least healthy but also the one with most
to prove, with each run a sort of test
of my endurance. I smelt of mud
and even when my hand was broken
I was back playing in a sling. Our pitch
was a sort of song we spoke like a chant
or mantra. To us it was Camp Nou,
Wembley, the San Siro, the earth variously
snow and dust. This was break time
and Milan in 1990, West Germany
and Holland, or Basle in May
1979. I didn’t care if I was England
or Holland or Blackpool as long
as the sky was endless and the whistle
for lessons a kind of myth
that would play on our fears, a sound
half as dreadful as the orb of the ball striking
the post and ricocheting
into a field.

~ Owen Vince

 

Owen Vince is a poet, music writer, and editor. He lives in Norwich and has been published in Magma, The Lampeter Review, and Carve, among others.

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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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