A Record of an Occurrence of the Extraterrestrial Sort — Summary

karamelCheerful

They sucked me into their space ship, And brought me to their leader, I smiled and shook his hand, First impressions and firm handshakes are important, Their leader frowned and said, This one's not right in the head, So they brought me out of their space ship, And left me in a corn field.

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Karamel's poem tells a deadpan story about being abducted by aliens, and the joke is how ordinary the speaker's reaction is. Instead of panicking, the speaker treats the alien leader like a job interviewer, smiling and offering a firm handshake because "first impressions and firm handshakes are important." The leader's verdict is brutal: this one's "not right in the head." The aliens give up and drop the speaker in a corn field.

The speaker never says how they feel, and that's part of the humor. The flat, matter-of-fact tone, helped by the formal, report-like title, suggests someone who is either oddly calm or a little oblivious. Underneath the comedy there's a sadder note. Being judged strange even by beings from another world hints at feeling like an outsider no matter where you go. The mood is light and absurd, but the ending, alone in a field, leaves a small sting of loneliness.

Read also

More by karamel

All poems
Cheerfulkaramel

Adventure

Do you want to go on an adventure? We could do anything we want, We could go to the Caribbean to hunt for treasure, To find riches we can flaunt,
Dreamykaramel

Down in Mulberry Lane

Down in Mulberry Lane, Lives an old lady, Older than the town must have been, And she collected things,
Cheerfulkaramel

A Charm Bracelet

While digging through my old belongings, I found an old bracelet wrapped in a piece of stocking, It had a silver chain, On it hung a metal lion with a flowing mane,