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Literature, PoetryOctober 20, 2016

While Watching the Latest Clip Out of Douma, Syria,

Zimadari (Responsibility) by Mohammad Ismaeel

‘Zimadari (Responsibility)’ by Mohammad Ismaeel. Image courtesy of the artist.

I can’t help but remember the man who runs,
his phone camera recording. Unlike instinct,

he runs toward the explosion and toward the no-more
apartment buildings and no-more houses.

He yells for his wife and son. His voice cracks.
He stumbles over rubble, shouts: God

is great. The camera jerks as he pushes aside
white stone blocks and concrete. He runs,

and he searches under / through / over
the tangled mess of rebar. God is great,

he begs aloud—again and again,
as if repetition could make that be,

make that true. And as he runs, I watch,
and I listen, never having heard that sentence

spoken as question, never having heard
so much bleed through those three words,

called on a day when the sun was bright
and the sky was blue.

~ Tara Ballard

Tara Ballard holds an MFA from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Her poems have been published in The Southampton Review, Salamander, HEArt Online, The Pinch, Wasafiri, and other literary magazines. She has lived in the Middle East and West Africa for seven years.

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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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