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The UNSPOKEN

LIterary journal

Life from Afar

by Anonymous

If the aliens landed 

From a far distant world 

In a large red ship

That shone as it twirled 

Would they wave us hello,

Or point at us with guns?

Would we run to find shelter, 

Or absurdly find the whole thing fun? 

Would they drain our oceans dry, 

Or gift us some magnanimous resource?

Would they kill us for sport, 

Or feel at least a little remorse? 

Would our lives suddenly lose meaning, 

With knowledge of another of sorts?

Would we feel some kind of connection, 

Or usher them out of our nearest port? 

Life from afar,

Might make us go mad.

After all, humans can hardly 

Manage the life that they have. 


Peter Pan

by Grant Wesley

I love playing the part, Peter Pan

Everyone likes him, 

He’s a larger than life type of man. 

But when I get out of character and take off the costume

I’m just me

The normal and boring, Grant resumes

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference 

Between me and the character 

The separating line of Pan and I blurs

Is that me on stage? 

Making friends and living? 

Or is that Pan?

Performing for the masses, filling 

I wonder why I myself don’t step on stage

But let Pan act and engage 

Perhaps I’m scared of being vulnerable 

Maybe one of these days being myself will be tolerable


Time capsule

by Anonymous

We went to the backyard and dug up our time capsule, 

Josh, Manny, Eden and I. 

And this is some of what we found: 

The bright orange golf ball from when we played Putt-Putt a decade ago, 

when I hit Eden in the head

and Josh yelled, “Hole in one!” 

The bottle cap from our trip to Massachusetts, 

from the dinner Josh was old enough to order his first beer,

and he let each of us have a sip.  

The hair tie that kept us entertained while we waited at the DMV for Manny to get her license,

one and a half hours of seeing who could catapult it the farthest. 

The ticket stub from when we saw Avengers: Endgame at midnight,

and stayed up in the parking lot talking about it,

then got breakfast from Waffle House afterwards. 

We dug it up today because I’m going off to college, the last one of the siblings. 

Josh is married. 

Manny just had her first kid. 

Eden is starting her next job in the city. 

And even though it’s sad, we can’t help but feel the sweetness

Of the stupid, little items that brought us so much joy 

Or defined such valuable memories. 

Because what is childhood without its end? 

Would we treasure it quite so much if it were not paired with adulthood?