Mediocre By Kendra Johnson

This girl is not ready

to tell her whole story

so she offers it in short words and sentences

cryptic phrases and pithy replies

she loves stories so much they save her

for awhile

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She lives in her storybooks

because they are safer than ordinary life

never makes plans for the future

because she has none

and instead experiences love with Elizabeth

fights fairies with Jude

never asks for anything in return

other than to be welcomed into the adventure 

whenever she pleases

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Until one day those stories betray her

and she sees in the desperate revenge of 

The Count of Monte Cristo

her own bloodthirsty eyes

And in the madness of Bertha

a mirror of her manic mind

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She’s never before met so much of herself

and some of it is hard to stomach

Like the way she spitefully mis-tells experiences

and cheerfully engages in little white lies

(in the mirror she thinks her nose has grown a little)

and ignores the people who love her

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Love is not as clean or simple as 

Once upon a time

So she slams the books shut

and each book she’s read sits on the shelf 

mocks her with dusty memories

While the unread sparkle with unreachable glamour

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She misses them

But she’s afraid of who will greet her 

once she opens them up again

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Not knowing is easier somehow for the girl

She does not want to find out

the story she’s told of herself 

isn’t unique

it’s universal

About the Author

Kendra is a creative writing student here at Selkirk College, she is currently in her 3rd year and hoping to finish up this spring. Kendra enjoys spending her time eating sushi, thrifting with friends, and reading romance novels.

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