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Literature, PoetryMarch 23, 2017

Notes on Black Death and Elegy

Within the Horizon, by Faraz Aamer Khan. Image courtesy of the artist

I

My father tried to kill his first wife
in a house with wide windows
and yellow hibiscus

II

My love does not know
I have never stood naked
before a man

III

For weeks I have tried to write an essay
on ‘Black Death and Elegy’
I compose letters instead:
Maman,
I am writing to you from across the water
the years have been a heavy tide
against the shore of me

IV

So much sits on the throat
the men on roadsides
the men in corridors
my wrists are living birds
small and keening beside me

V

My uncle
gone some twenty years
telephones at dinner to tell me
he was once a child soldier

Oh Lord
the years kneel down

~ Sarah Lubala

Sarah Lubala works as a Development Worker for an Education NGO in Johannesburg. When she’s not at the office, she can be found in gardens, drinking copious amounts of tea and reading Pablo Neruda’s love sonnets.

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Faraz Aamer KhanPoem of the WeekpoetrySarah Lubala

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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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