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Literature, PoetryJanuary 13, 2016

from ‘Intimations’

Image courtesy of John Robert Lee

Image courtesy of John Robert Lee

“When, dear, you have gone”

“I dimly guess what Time in mists confounds;
Yet ever and anon a trumpet sounds
From the hid battlements of Eternity…”
~ Francis Thompson, ‘The Hound of Heaven’

When, dear, you have gone
far beyond dwarf planets
galaxies of diaphanous nebula
and incomparable deeps
of incredible space —
this one book I have been writing
since you met me in the midday of my journey
confused and without direction
in a maze of deep ravines
and dead rivers,
sucked dry, cast away
by soucouyants and devil women
without remembered names,
and you took me into the house
of your sloe-eyed laughter and your faith
and loved me —
this one book I have been writing
in canticles kwéyòl
dancing lines of lakonmèt and weedova
their violons and chak-chak in my ear,
an epistle of a testament
to your Wonderful King, the Maker of the spheres —
this one book you will see
in His compassionate Hands
and hear Him read for you
the inadequate, untranslatable
unsayable words of my gratitude
for you, my love, my faith companion,
my gift of His incomprehensible grace.

~ John Robert Lee

John Robert Lee is a writer of prose, poetry, journalism; a librarian; and a former radio and television broadcaster. His latest publications are ‘elemental: new and selected poems,  1975-2007’ ( Peepal Tree Press, 2008), ‘Sighting and other poems of faith’ (Mahanaim, 2013) and ‘Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative writing: 1948-2013’ (Mahanaim, 2013). His bibliography of Caribbean literature is available here.

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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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