THE ROOKIE- Shortlisted for Inaugural Campus Diary Wordfest

Hey guys,

An awkward greeting never hurt nobody. On to other things, as I oh, so,subtly put it in this post, I managed to be top 10 in a writing competition. This  is the "winning" piece.

Image: Rookie Magazine Logo (s/o to Tavi Gevinson who has always been goals!)

‘THE ROOKIE.’

By Edwina Mapenzi

It seems like,

It almost seems like,

I got it twisted,

See

That’s all I wanted,

To be that girl on your feed,

The one who plants that seed,

Of want, no, of lust,

Of the “finer” things in life,

With that high pony puff,

And all that good stuff;

Edges sleek,

Eyebrows on fleek,

On the lips nothing but Nouba,

Don’t forget that winged eyeliner,

Endless trips to Java,

You already know

Because that lemonade

Be, Lit.

It wouldn’t be easy.

Sacrifice,

My time, my soul

Feels like a vice,

This huge hole,

Don’t get me wrong,

For a minute,

I was in it,

I mean, all in,

On a scale,

Everything was great,

Out of ten an eight.

Then,

Just with a drop of a hat,

More of a heart,

It all starts,

A shove in the corner here,

And a blind eye turned there,

At first I took it in stride,

Taking tolerance for the ride,

Finally,

I couldn’t take it.

‘It must be me,’

I thought,

Surely, it must be

What else?

Who else?

But the rookie.

Firsts,

Never easy,

But this hard?

Nah,

This endless

Back and forth,

Highs and lows,

Mostly lows,

New definition lows?

High definition lows.

At this point,

Auto pilot mode, activate.

Rolling with the times,

Of course,

Not so good times,

Now,

I’m up against the wall.

Down? Yes,

Out? Not even close.

I am better,

I am hurt,

And, now, I am a doormat.

Not anymore,

At least not any longer.

YOU don’t understand,

There, I’ve been,

That, I’ve done,

The circle of life.

But now I’m older,

Wiser, I think, I hope,

I pray.

It’s still in the works,

But my starting point

for today,

In the words of Queen Bey,

I will SLAY.

Have a good one!