Jeremy Freedman" />
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Literature, PoetryMarch 20, 2016

Millipede

Artwork by Sara Sultan. Image courtesy of the artist

Artwork by Sara Sultan. Image courtesy of the artist

For a thousand years,
I haven’t wanted to remember
how good it felt to be debased,
but now I want to return,
return to that alerted night,
when you walked on my face
with a thousand legs like a millipede,
as if you owned the place.

Something clarified in me
that fragrant night,
my blood as thick as butter,
and every hair on my body
stood up to welcome you,
and make a nest
for the thousand tiny eggs
you chose to lay.

By the next morning,
your exquisite eggs had fabergéd
into hatchlings I’d have to raise
alone, because you were gone,
like the moment was,
as if you’d never been.

I know you’re out there though,
skittering across someone’s face
on your thousand skinny legs,
and I know I’ll have to swim
a filthy river
just to lick your nutmeg
skin again and taste
how you taste, of mace.

~ Jeremy Freedman

Jeremy Freedman is a writer and artist in New York City. His poems have been published in Queen Mob’s, Cleaver, Alien Mouth, Eclectica, Otoliths and elsewhere. His photographs have been exhibited in Europe and the United States and have been recently featured in Hothouse, Redivider, the Monarch Review, the Citron Review and the Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review.

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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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