Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało" />
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Literature, PoetryJanuary 21, 2016

eight ways of speaking about snow

 Swedish Winter Landscape, by Deborah Pino Solis. Image courtesy of the artist

Swedish Winter Landscape, by Deborah Pino Solis. Image courtesy of the artist

osiem sposobów na wyrażenie śniegu

Lubię jak nam przeszkadza
szum ekspresu do kawy,
kiedy do ciebie dzwonię
z dworcowej sieciówki
z ręką zajętą plastikowym
kubkiem, kiedy do ciebie
dzwonię z pomarańczowej
budki lubię jak nam przeszkadza
odgłos stempli na poczcie
jęk wózków bezdomnych
lubię jak nam przeszkadza
zapach piekarni, moje długie
włosy i złote kolczyki
przy mokrej słuchawce,
lubię jak nam przeszkadzają wysokie
obcasy, bolące nogi i sztywny
drut kabla, kiedy rozmawiam
z tobą przez telefon lubię
twój język, jak mi odpalasz
swoje świeże wiersze
i jak się pocę pod bransoletką i jak potem
idę przez miasto całkiem
nieprzytomna, wsiadam do pociągu
i zapach akacji i burza szykuje
swoje ciemne mięśnie
~ Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało

eight ways of speaking about snow

I like us bothered
by the coffee machine hum,
when I call you
from the railway station,
my hand busy with a plastic
cup, when I call
you from the orange
booth I like us bothered by
the postal stamp thuds,
wails of the carts of the homeless,
I like us bothered
by the bakery smell, my long
hair and golden earrings
touching the wet receiver,
I like us bothered by the high
heels, aching legs and stiff
cable, when I talk
to you over the phone I like
your tongue, when you light me
your fresh poems,
when I sweat under the bracelet and then
walk across the town utterly
unconscious, get on a train,
and acacias smell and a storm flexes
its dark muscles
~ trans. Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese

Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało is an award-winning Polish poet, journalist, novelist and children’s writer. She has just published a novel entitled ‘41 Drownings’.

Elżbieta Wójcik-Leese writes between English, Polish and Danish. Her selection from Krystyna Miłobędzka, ‘Nothing More’ (Arc, 2013), has been shortlisted for the 2015 Popescu European Poetry Translation Prize.

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Agnieszka Wolny-HamkaloElżbieta Wójcik-LeesePoem of the WeekpoetryPolishtranslations

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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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