Reflections of a Twenty Something

By Alia Mariah Watkins

Her first book, Reflections of a Twenty Something, depicts both the trials and triumphs we all experience in life through a series of poems. Through her writing, she hopes to not only relate but also encourage her readers to persevere and grow despite the difficult times.

“I am beginning to see that I am a vessel because someone has to be able to rationalize life into words” (Mariah).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984556837

Alia Mariah Watkins

Alia Mariah Watkins was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She believes that her family and the city’s rich culture in art, music, and entertainment inspired many of her extra-curricular activities and talents throughout her life. Her love for language, writing, and people ultimately led her to Savannah, Georgia to study at Armstrong State University. On September 25, 2011, her mother, Ava Clarissa Battiste-Watkins, suffered an untimely death. Despite her struggles with the loss, she returned to the university to continue her education and honor her mother. She published several works, including writing various articles for the Armstrong Magazine and edited for Calliope, a collection of art and literature created by the Armstrong community. In 2014, she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. majoring in English-Communications and minoring in Spanish. She returned to Atlanta to assist her late mother’s parents and discovered that she wanted to revisit some of her childhood dreams, including acting, modeling, and writing. She recently was accepted into Full Sail University to obtain her MFA in Creative Writing, and her expected graduation date is October 2018. Her first book, Reflections of a Twenty Something, depicts both the trials and triumphs we all experience in life through a series of poems. Through her writing, she hopes to not only relate but encourage her readers to persevere and grow despite the difficult times. “I am beginning to see that I am a vessel because someone has to be able to rationalize life into words.” - Mariah

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Alia Watkins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 11/17/2018

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Contents

Prologue

Reflections of a Twentysomething

Chapter 1: The Storm

I Don’t See the World the Same

It Didn’t Happen the Way You Thought

Right Now

Loving You Causes My Pain

You Couldn’t

If I Had

He Got Game

Scars

Why Me?

Which One?

What Do You Love?

Chapter 2: The Calm

Graduation Day

Play the Cards I’ve Been Dealt

Last

Run Away

Real One

Game

A Woman’s Worth

Could It Be?

Cross Your Mind

Are You with Me?

Colors

Let It Go

That Moment

Chapter 3: The Wake

Questions

There

Cocoa Butter

My Case

Torn

Scales

Solo Tú

You Were Never Ready

Revival

Expectations

Rebuke

Black Lives Matter

Senses

Dedication

To those who have a struggle, to those who feel as if life is too hard to manage, to those who feel like giving up.

To those who feel as if they have failed, to those who have succeeded, to those who feel their best is never good enough.

Keep growing.

To my beautiful mother, who taught me courage, independence, strength, and wisdom.

Rest in peace.

Ava Clarissa

Prologue

Reflections of a Twentysomething

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As children we always dream

What we envision our futures to be

An ignorant bliss indeed

Yearning to find these elements of freedom and peace

No responsibilities

I fell many times

Scrapes and bruises all on my knees and sides

But I never thought things could hurt so much in my life

The loss of loved ones

Relationships getting tossed about

God’s love was the only thing constant throughout

My own mother being called home

Being with someone so young who captured my