4 / 15 / 23

The UNSPOKEN

LIterary journal

Between loss and love

by Angela Ke

The night was mute of colors 

Hunched shoulders was your frame 

What could flitter as hope across the scene

Neither of us reached out to claim.


The streetlights threw blocks of shadows 

And the rain made mirrors of our shame 

What I would have given to know you before

I would give now to never have known your name.


Though you drew stars around my scars 

They’ve faded just the same 

Healing can come apart from what’s known 

And comfort isn’t always what eats pain. 


So even though you caught the blight that threatened us 

Your fists were clenched around a different game 

I know you won’t give up what’s yours 

A different girl, a different blame.


I know I could love you one last time this night 

But my soul would hurt from a folly so vain 

Given, traded, tenuous from use 

What could break me would only be a trip in your mundane.


As you fought the loss that you called love 

I knew another girl would live through this night again 

And the chance I could have given you 

Died before it left my hand. 


Intertwined Within the memories

by Ally Gladson

In a cardigan, memories woven tight,

Whispers of love in the dead of night.

Lost in a dance, a fleeting glance,

Echoes of a past, a second chance.

Through the woods, a path we'd tread,

In a world of green, where dreams were fed.

Your touch, a spark, a flame's soft light,

Guiding me through the darkest night.

But seasons change, and hearts do too,

Fading love, once bold and true.

Now I wear this cardigan, frayed and worn,

A tapestry of memories, tattered and torn.

Yet in its threads, I find solace sweet,

A reminder of a love, once complete.

A silent vow, a promise unspoken,

In this cardigan, my heart is cloaked in.

I understood you when no one else could

and you loved me when no one else would

You drew pretty stars around all my scars

and I cherished you from the bottom of my heart

I was naive, thought we were forever

but your eyes caught on a prettier sweater

She reminded you of cloudless blue skies and warm summer air

She was enough for you to forget I was there

Months passed, you disappeared

Left me to drown in an ocean of tears 

But in the end I guess it was my fault

I should’ve known a cheap old cardigan would never be worthy of the love in your heart


No Longer Your Favorite 

by Prisha Shiwakoti

scared of heights

by Krista Fleming

I must be scared of heights. 

There is flipping and tripping inside my stomach

And they call it butterflies, 

But it feels like sign of danger

And it sounds a lot like cries. 

I want to let it all go, 

To look at you and know I am home, 

To let my heart begin to grow,

To not always be “just on my own.”

But wandering through an endless dance, 

The voice inside me always chants:

If I let you draw stars, 

Will you leave scars?

Will I be bleeding? 

If I let you in, 

Will it be a sin?

Will I be weeping? 

So don’t tell me your feelings, 

Let me pretend, 

If you love me, please leave me, 

Don’t stay ‘till the end. 

I must be scared of heights, 

Because loving you makes me feel like the stars you drew, 

And that’s a very long way to fall. 


Black Hole

by Heather Wheeler
you drew stars around my scars—why did no one tell me stars could die?

why did no one tell me they could become black holes, sucking the joy out of the past two years.

these are supposed to be my formative teenage years, but what did they form except a collage of painful memories, riddled with the marks you left on me.

and the scar tissue dissolves, and I’m left bleeding again.

why did no one tell me stars could die?