nofilter
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Walking down the street making sure these poor boys eyes bleed
My hips in the right place making myself irresistible to chase
Do you see the flawlessness is the way I strut?
No such thing as flawless, perfect, peerless;
Only fallen varmints grubbing helpless,
Guided by old books to find redemption
And some vindication from above.
Perfect spirits all alike and charming,
Before I was born, it was already determined
A girl in this life is a second class citizen
If I want to defy that, then I must act like a man
This life of hypocrisy doesn't always go as planned
No additions, no subtractions, I am an ordinary woman
Simply less gorgeous than what my pictures look like
I am a woman with flaws
With acne, small eyes, and facial hair
Nothing too special about my body
I'm the king of being the best I can be at all times. I don't want to brag, but hey, I think I'm the choosen one.
I am not the color of my hair (lord knows i've dyed it so many times before anyways).
I am not the color of my skin (I didn’t choose it).
I am not the color of my eyes (they seem more appropriate on my dad’s face anyways).
Without lights, wihout glamour
I'm that kid obsessed with M.C. Hammer
I stick to myself and emerse myself
In rhythms and beats
Beats so rhythmic they make your heart dance, your soul sway
We all know who we are,
thats the scary part.
we want to think that we are,
a princess, a prince
a hero, a savior
but oh shit,
we are...
normal.
but so was Einstein,
I had to pay, actually,
to find myself.
Didn't you?
I had choices,
I had to chose.
I had fallen to the social norms.
I lost my sanity,
Heavens Rain
I do not know If my skin will ever be as clean as others seen
But i dream to let go of a constant stream..
Aesthetic symmetry floods me
Ask me what
and I will tell you why.
You did not want to know,
but I thought you should.
Trapped inside a selfish mind
of complacency? I'll give you
a dose of reality.
It is not my job,
Happy days come and go but nothing more
They say to prove your worth or else be sore
Ive come and gone and begged my soul to greif
Alas it has been nothing but a dream.
Those boys and girls pertain to nothingness
Who am I?
You'd like to know.
I am a contradiction.
I like to be by myself, I hate to be alone.
I am happy, I am sad.
I am loved, I am hated.
I am intelligent.
Who am I?
I am imperfectlopsided smilea single dimpled cheekan abundance of freckles and blemishescrooked spinethe scars that are scattered amongst my body tell my story
Who am I? Am I here for a purpose, do I have a duty? Living among 7 billion, in a universe of beauty? Am I a walking clump of cells waiting to go back to the ground?
I used to be shy
Scared and alone
Surrounded by darkness that was my own
I never talked much
Afraid of others
What would they say?
I was never popular, teased yes
What is my story, you ask?
Not one that can be covered by a mask.
It involves venturing into the dark ocean
Looking towards a better future with devotion.
Faking life
is all I do
is all they do
for fake is true
they entrap the weak
and rape the poor
all so they can score their whore
the slime and filth
their dirty green
I am not perfect
But I have identified my flaws
I have bipolar disorder
I have depression
But I do not let it control me
I am Passionate
I am loving
This is me.
pale
boring brown eyes
unordinary brown hair
imperfect skin
a little chunky,
but who cares?
This is just ME!
standing out
My blood bristles.
The fever is crisp
like wine, through my veins.
The pressure illuminates my remains
I stir with tenacity.
I sense your lustful presence
My blood pressure rises,
then falls−
Many times we get hurt my words
Wether we be diffrent or just nerds
We carry much sadness and pain
To what extent will we ever gain
We often thank we are alone
And often we complain with a groan
I can’t remember the last time I cried,but I can remember the feelingof an empty chest. Seven in the morning
I'm a man with low tastes
I play games all day
And sleep all night
I like the way i am
But others don't
I eat junk food and stuff my face
I never consider healthy crap
A filter on a picture is like a curtain covering up a stage; everyone admires it with a mundane sense of awe, until the courage to open the curains is formed, and every onlooker falls in love with what lies beneath.
I am me
Plain and simple
Born October 1996, 2 weeks early
Into an environment nobody wants to talk about
My name?
It means warrior
And my mom swears I'm am strong like one
Every one near, listen!
And hear,
I've got a topic up for discussion,
that will make some of you start blushin'
Is it true?
the words I hear
and the visuals I see,
beyond truth is all I ever believe,
but for me to see,
and for me to hear
is it reality?
the feelings that i feel
I am not who you want to be be.
We are not the same.
I am whatever I am,
but it doesn't have a name.
A breeze, trembling as it channels down through the trees,
Articulates itself to me as talking leaves sail from the higher bodies of nature.
I'm not what I seem
I seem like I don't like people
the truth is I love people
I've just been hurt by the ones
I've let too far in
I seem as though I'm harsh and critical when
My body relaxes and I feel calm.The gentle sounds I hear when I’m aloneare racing down my warm face in turquoisestreams. I like to pretend that my pasteldreams are more than the ocean and seashells.
Who am I with #NoFilter you ask... You may see a dollar all wrinkled and torn and then that perfect straight crisp dollar but they both are still dollars right? Filters just cover up the imperfections on the outside.
Who am I?
I am Jasmine Crosby.
Who is she?
She's an independent, strong, African American who can be stubborn but is very determined.
She is that one person whose mind you change once she has made it up.
Don't fight me cause I'm noone.I'm the face u see when u look n the mirror.I'm the light that shines to the darkness but yet im noone.I'm something to someone but noone to myself.I'm
I'm not going to start this off with the typical line of "Who am I?", because I know who I am.
With no filter I am me,
Sailing far beyond the seas.
Just me being me,
Just me being set free.
With no filter I can breathe.
I am lonely but I am free.
There are a thousand things I want to scream at you
make you understand the pain you put me through:
The bullet in my head and
the crevice in my heart.
You said you loved me,
I am a raging fire,
Flames spit and hiss
They are destructive,
They are passionate,
They are
Me.
I am a tranquil ocean,
Timid is new to me,
You bring your presence near and I tremble from nervousness.
I am strong and outspoken yet I blush when you come close.
Who are you?
Tell me where you are.
You are everywhere and I am not
I never dismiss the different
I don't see a lunatic
Just one who punched their lunar
ticket early
All this observing was worth
the lurking
This world is just a circle, a
I accept it.
I use it to Learn,
To Make me angry
So I can use that anger
To Drive me forward
to make me even more determined
It has Helped me countless times
By Teaching me how:
Negate the chance to use the crippling and
Oppressive option of filters. These are the
Cursed lips that say my name
That first kiss I'd hate to claim
Evil disguised as a beautiful girl
My heart was blinded from another world
To say my name you have to know it first
My personality is not defined by the
Limits of society.
Wrapped up into a box
With a bow tied around it, I am strong, and independent.
Living the life I am choosing and taking a
Difficult journey,
what do you see
when you look at me
our perspectives are completely divergent
because you see a girl
I remember when I used to show you pictures of deprived girls,
With ribs that protruded like the fingers of a rake
And you’d give me this dumb look and say things like,
“That’s a little unrealistic, don’t you think?”
Im finally finding myself, im finally finding myself, I was alone once upon time yes trapped inside my mind.
With no filter, I am me.
Me is I, and I is she.
She is me, and I love me.
Me is amazing at listening to others.
She loves to borrow clothes that are my mother’s.
The world as I see it,
unfiltered,
is not shown through our screens
is it?
My freckled face,
unfiltered,
is now in valencia
framed?
What happeed to the light
from the sun up above?
Funny funny funny,
I am funny
Creative Creative Creative
I am Creative
I am me who loves and loves
I am me who loves to be loved
Caring for a person's heart is what's normal
Feeling so heavy at times you can barely breathe
You worry you stress then try to lay down with all that and rest
You see their struggles It eats at your soul
This world we live in is so cold
USA land of free
As a boy I was always told to get a great career and always make sure that I am on the path towards success.
As a teen I was told to stay out the streets, keep my head in the books, and to do my best.
Helpless she cries
As the family she has loved
Is torn apart with two words.
It's over.
She cries to herself
Too quietly to be heard
And says two words.
Why me?
Like strong coffee,
you'd want to off me
If you really knew the true me.
You say it's a new me.
I think you never knew me.
Tell me
Can you handle me with
#NoFilter?
I'm six foot one
Lots of fun
That is how I am known to everyone
But I am more than just a number
I'm a person who will leave you with wonder
I've fought battles with myself
It hurt,
it hurt looking at him.
The betrayal within his arms,
his arms embracing another female.
Eyes wide open,
as she lays upon the memories,
Tell me something
Not an empty something
Tell me the truth
Don't tell me to just smile
Or hide it all inside
Cause those things aren't working
I've got no one by my side.
I wonder what its like for a guy to strike out
To finish the night with haze and doubt
What is the attraction if not physical
With these cold hearted whymsicals
What it feels like for them
I watch you stain a canvas with your presences
soft breath whispers your eyes don't see and
your ears don't hear
endless odysseys of conversations I’ve had with you
your body language the tool of choice
A rose shielded by thorns
the description that perfectly describes me
you see
another magnificent piece
of God's artwork on display
that's never to be touched
for I fear…
What Am I In My LIFETIME?
Living life
In an everlasting fear
From what I think
Everybody else
Thinks about me
Instead of what I mean to the
Many that find me
Essentially PERFECT.
No filter
Without process, instant or tonal
we can all be beautiful.
I hate all the people
but I never tell them
all these people hate me
I've always hated the saying it will be okay because it almost never is.... i tell people that im okay im fine its all in my mind but the truth is thats all just an act....
My skin does not have a filter.
Although everyone elses seems too.
When others look at me I feel like I am an annoying splinter.
No one else realizes they too, do not need a filter.
She plays with the ends of her hair and laughs out loud;
I am careful to hide the crooked smile of which she is somehow proud.
She loves colors and dresses she can twirl in;
I drown in dark colors and drab cardigans.
This handsome Blind man says
Only me in my world
Only I can see my world
U can't c my world
Only I can c my world
Only I could heed my thought
I review myself over a layer of abstraction:
the camera's lense,
the mirror's silver,
or a stranger's eye.
It's when I look into myself
as a primary source that I descover
the gorgeous,
#nofilter
Because the truth of my words means so much more than the over lap of my teeth
#nofilter
I am but a dot in a mosaic of bottled blood and cultural variation, there is no room for compliance, for heeding to society’s creed only leads to monotonous existence.
And it gets boring.
This is for the girl that I use to see.
The fat, awkwardly tall girl I use to be.
The one who looked in the mirrior and didn't notice the beauty inside of she.
My insecurities had me locked in but I finally found the key.
#NoFilter
Behind the filter who am I?
Behind the rose tint and the tweaked waist who am I?
I am the scars that decorate me face
For they tell MY story
I am each little curl in my hair
The world around us,
It’s filtered every day,
Turning it Black and White.
The personality of the
Person next to you
Hidden by the social norms.
Our very thoughts,
I walk out of high school into a world
Filled with complacency
Hypocrisy
Even lunacy
But no matter what I do or say
I can't get anyone to see
That I see what they can't,
You know how people
take a look at
themselves
and see the bad, the ugly
scrapes and scars
cellulite and stretched
marks along the craters and curves of the
body
I see all of that and
You Don't Fool Me
You Can't Hurt Me
My Heart Got An Armor That Protects Me
So You Won't Be Able To Stab Me In The Heart Again
I Gain Confidence More Than A Cat Being Thrown In A Rain
Deeper.... Firmer... Stronger... Lover
Heart Healer
Lip Sealer
Life Concealer
Dream Believer
6 Months In your Arms
The Same As 6 Months In Hell
Instead Of The Feeling Of Heavens Kingdom
I Faced The Feeling Of Jail
How Can I Be Such Prisoner To Your Love
But You're A Free man To Mine
Here I stand
All of me for you to see
I will hide nothing
I have nothing to hide
I am strong
but have moments of weakness
I work hard
but at times I stumble
I believe in others
For the most part I am #nofilter,
Only filter I have is the one on my choosing of words,
Held back by a smile so white you’d think I get my teeth bleach.
I'm the bigger girl sitting alone
I'm the nerdy one without a home
I'm the nasty attitude with no control
I'm the hater without any love
It's always I'm , I'm , I'm
But that's never so
We are who we are.
We are not the likes we get on insstagram.
We cannot measure our beauty by the retweets our pictures get on twitter.
We are stong and beautiful.
The diploma is handed back to the principal,
I walk backwards into my seat.
I celebrate my 17th birthday before I celebrate my 16th.
Tock, tick. Tock, tick.
My teacher hands me the grade before I've taken the test.
No filter needed
No black and white
Your the one who makes life completed
You make everyday bright
God made you this way for a reason
He took time to make you
Your beautiful no mater what season
Some say I'm like a diary; difficut to read.
Try to understand me its not oh so easy.
Some say I am confusing,
It so amusing.
I am hated by people
Shhhh I know the secrects.
In the third grade we were told to memorize our times tables.
Off of the top of my head I can tell you that 6* 4 is 24 and 11*3 is 33,
But hell sometimes I still forget what 9*6 is.
Individuality lost with a press of a button
Creativity limited by the boarders of a screen
Beauty eclipsed by filters
An attempt to imitate perfection
Has become the new trend
That brought an end
My face is viewed but my personality is unknown
People judge me as if they know me because they’ve came across a picture of myself on their phone
We chase after the intangible
Leaving our presence as history
Forgetting to remember that we are in the Now.
And in the midst of each others desolation,
They call where I live “The Bubble”
“The Happy Valley”
because whatever problems we face
we hide behind photo shopped pictures
with filtered solutions.
Anyone who breaks the mold gets broken apart,
Refuses to put make up on her face.
Refuses to wear anything nice
I would rather stay in a sweater and sweat pants all day.
I am insecure
I am stressed
What is the cure for all this mess?
Curtains are drawn at night,
To shield our fragile minds
From obscurities
Mute outside.
Half are opaque,
Half are translucent.
Variety feeds the filters
My hair is matted, as if swept by a tornado in the night,
My sleepy eyes squint through the bright morning sun,
Arch your back
Now pout your lips
Wait, wait move your shoulder near your chin
Now click
That’s your typical instagram pic
It’s a process
I admit I sometimes hide behind filters
Let's be straight here
I don't come from a broken home
I didn't grow up on 8 mile road
And I don't hail from Brooklyn
or Flatiron, or the Bronx
But I have a story too
Wipe off the carefully proportioned eyeliner from the crevices of your cherished eyes Clear the golden sparkle of magic from your promising eyelids Remove the vol
Concealed behind every layer of skin is a story.
A unique, inspirational lesson learned
waiting to unveil itself,
just waiting for the layers to be peeled back.
Every heart beats the same.
The hours, the preparation, the blood, sweat and tears
All for that one moment
Recognition.
As the audience claps and cheers at the performance pure
Ecstasy consumes me.
Dang it...what day is it? It's only Thursday? (Seriously?)
Okay okay, I'm getting up. Shoot...not enough time to get ready. (Eh, I can do it).
A quick shower, throw on my school's uniform, brush my hair and teeth.
FLASH.
Sticks and stones may Break your bones, But my words will surely Hurt you.
FLASH.
Without a cover.
My flaws come to light.
I no longer have a disguise.
Look at me ! I'm just a mess!
Who is she?
That girl in my mirror?
Staring back at me with those tired eyes
And that big pimple on her cheek
Things that the filters on instagram could fix in a heart beat
Look at your reflection.
Tell me, what do you see?
Surely it's not perfection
But how could that be?
Banging, Clanging, Singing,
Lyrical tunes spinning,
That’s how I think, not how I write.
Restricted by society,
They say “Don’t say”
They say “Do say”
In a world where people are periodically posting pics and sending selfies to fellow citizens, there is a surprising amount of self hate surrounding the subject.
It starts in 1999, when at five years
old, still chubby-cheeked and new,
I learned that make-up was for girls
as night over night I watched my mother paint
If the world were to end tomorrow
I’d spend my last hours with the universal language.
If I lost my hearing tomorrow
I’d spend today
Listening to Forever and Always by Parachute,
I like it
When you go to a movie with me
And you come out sparking and fizzing
About how the part with the helicopters was so awesome
And why didn’t they DEVELOP the love interest
And I feel
Follow me on Instagram
@ Insert nickname, 3 hearts and a winky face
I post every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday
And I just wanted to say, that I love all of my haters.
I saw him on the corner of the street,
Holding a sign,
With the same words the rest of them say.
What is he really going to use the money for?
Everyone knows.
I walked into the store,
A child running up and down the aisles,
His mother yelling....
The reflection oppressed upon me
cannot comprehend what’s beneath
my faltered skin and battered complexion
or amount to my heart that beats
passionately for music and
the lines of my poetry.
Tear down the make up
Tear down the perfection
Tear down every embellishment
See me without my disguise
I am not special
I am not flawless
I am not the smartest of my kind
I may not have the most beautiful face
Have some fat around my waist
Hips may be a little wide
Thighs may be too thick
May not have the most beautiful smile
But I guess I have nice lips
Without the filters,
I am me.
With the filters,
I am me.
The substance in my mind,
Beneath my skin,
Running through my veins,
Pumping into my heart,
Is me.
Have you ever been stuck with nothing to say?
And though there’s plenty to say, you just can’t say it?
Who’s going to listen?
I am screaming from the inside, hoping someone hears me,
Have you ever been stuck with nothing to say?
And though there’s plenty to say, you just can’t say it?
Who’s going to listen?
I am screaming from the inside, hoping someone hears me,
See her beauty, how it radiates throughout her.
Her smile, the most beautiful they say. Similing at anyone who crosses her path.
Her laugh; a contagious, light- hearted laugh that can warm your soul.
200 likes on an Instagram picture
I'm more brilliant than a chandelier fixture
Nothing you do or say could make me dimmer
When I take off my mask
And end my various facades
I awaken myself enough to ask
What went through the minds of the gods
When they cast me to Earth to accomplish a task
Aganist the unfavorable odds
who am i? what defines me?
is it the amount of likes i get?
the exposure of my breasts?
the filters i select?
does the camera do a good job of capturing my IQ?
Without a filter...
You’ll find a girl who can be insecure about herself and the way others view her;
You’ll probably see her hanging out with her friends though;
She’s often timid around unfamiliar faces,
I'm a disappointment
A failed try who deserves every ounce of blame,
always pushing my anger forward as I hold back my shame
Why talk about dreams I'll never achieve,
In the mirror,
I stare at my opposite twin
who stares back at me.
She is beautiful, yet worn;
she is mysterious, yet ordinary.
And there is no way of talking to her
I am not
NOT
not
about to pick apart the pieces of myself
tear out a ventricle here
a molar there
a fingernail and a stretchmark
sew them all together with
I saved you a box of towelettes, in case it was hard for you to see the REAL ME.
1.
Wear you skin like armor.
The glow of your forefathers shines brighter than any bleach-drenched word that tries to erase the “La Illaha Illallah” from your DNA.
I am not the façade society demands
I am not my reputation
I am not the mutterings under their breath
I am not a dumb blonde
(in honor of Sophia Dembling)
Introversion is often treated as the space
where extroversion is not
I hide where everyone can see
But the harsh lights blind them
And I would hope I do too.
Glittering.
Who is she?
I hide at center stage
Where the words that couldn’t
Wouldn’t
This is it.
The final score
Never has it been this hard before
Racquet in my quivering hand
Do not go into no man’s land
Everything has led to this
The lies the world tells of us,
The lies we tell ourselves,
The lies we paint on our faces,
The lies that dictate who we become.
A world that watches every angle,
We walk around pretending we're fine.
No one ever seems to want to find the time
To walk the fine line
Between knowing someone
through a hashtag or a username
And showing them actual compassion.
Look at me deep in my eyes, until you feel the depth of my soul.
Til you see the transparency of my heart, and you discover the -me, untold.
The part of me that I once had to hide. So ashamed of those secrets and sins,
What will it take for you to see
The side of me I want to be?
Must I walk and talk and dress
Just like all the rest?
Can I show you who I am?
Who I'm meant to be?
Is this all a scam
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say,
In reality society judges every deatil,
angle and lighting help us acomplish a perfect selfie,
pictures can transform anyone,
I am a girl with space tucked under the flaps of her skin.
I grasp at the loose tendrils,
in shades of forest and thunder,
attempting to hold the drifting vapor
close to my luminescent heart.
"I think I'll call you star" he said
My star earrings jingled
As a slight smile appears at the thought of being a star
A fiery balll of light
Shining bright
Watching over everyones dreams
In the lonely hour I cry, I laugh, and I fake a smile.
In the lonely hour I run from my fears like a fool making people laugh in which I'm the fool myself.
Click, click, and click
The moment has been captured in time forever
My face, my body
All for the world to see
What’s behind the exterior they do not know
Sharpen your jawline
with a piece of sandpaper. Try not to break
the skin; grime will settle
into your blood and spread like poison,
and you're here to fix you,
not the opposite.
I am the product of my Father’s hand,
a creation of God,
knit carefully into a man.
I am the effect of love and nurture,
a home that cares and builds and corrects.
I am the aftermath of disaster, of learning
We’re all artists, painting ourselves the way we want to be seen.
We have our distorted self-portraits on display to the world, but we rarely let authenticity slip through.
reaching into the depths of love stained pages and pulling out the most familiar character is my way of reinforcing my sense of self
My cousin is 10 years old
skin and bones
and she thinks she’s fat.
Isn’t there something wrong with that?
From the moment we enter this world
we are force fed
images of what “true beauty”
If you stepped inside my mind,
Through my staring brown eyes,
You would see the filter fall.
When I look inside my mind, I see the clutter, the disorder, and the beauty of all that I have become.
Complexity in his complexion,
Confidence from his perspective
Yet, make no mistake, he's far from perfection.
Reality is the filter.
It's paramount.
It advocates our aspects in every particle of air,
it pumps the hue into our cheeks with every breath.
In every wave of light,
Filters on photographs
hide so many things
like the freckles on my nose
and the acne on my cheeks
Filters on my words
hide the real me
how I sometimes cuss like a sailor
Inside out, right side in,
Don't let the outside win.
Take off the mask; leave out the filter.
Your flaws are unique, as if made by a quilter.
Birthmarks, acne, and scars; all make us who we are.
I'm not Valencia
Nor I'm a Sierra
I'm Alexa
Goddess
Of sleeping in
With messy curly hair
I don't wake up like Beyonce
But I do have sass and flare
Behind the lights and cameras,
Behind the edits and makeup,
I am unique.
Hidden behind the photoshop
Is a girl who just wants to be heard.
Who wants to be noticed,
To be cared for,
The river crossed the dirt stream
Water filled the veins of the soul
It took a deep breath
A baby taking its first gasp.
Forget Sepia.
Forget Valencia.
Who I am is genuine and authentic.
That’s what the world should notice;
Alyx; diligent, striving, loving, artistic, bold, compassionate.
Coming to a mirror image,
Dull is my thinking that age;
From the site of my being,
To my impure seems.
I am not meant to be seen without my filter
She is the secret I hide under my bed.
I meet her from time to time
You are asking me to strip
and strip
and strip
and strip
and strip
away all the skins I have gathered
to protect me from this question
I'm fine sloughs away first, but
#Instagram #LOL #Live
without the makeup.
without the drama.
without the hate.
I don't have an Instagram.
#nofilter #truebeauty #showwhoyoureallyare
We love you for you.
Large nose, large thighs, the filter of plastic surgery may be the only cover-up.
I can tell you many things about myself,
But will they be true?
Will they truly tell you who I really am?
I can give you the truth and I can lie,
Either way you may never know who I really am.
No filter
I'm erratic
Two cars
Too fast
careening down the mountainside
.racing to see who will hit rock bottom first.
You cannot dial down the saturation on destruction,
Chaos.
Inside me is chaos.
I cannot explain in words
the way it feels to be
so completely and totally
consumed
Beauty has no filter I once thought that filters made things beautiful I would hide my imperfections And display myself as a perfect doll I would shut out my uniqueness, my personality To be like everyone else I thought fitting in was beautiful I
Esto es mi rostro,
body creaking,
my wrist twisting,
twisting, twisting, twisting...
corporeal
Sera este mi rostro?
is it the face in reflection shown,
reversed, turned over,
-mommy, why do actors die in movies?
-mommy, why can't we get a dog?
-mommy, why don't we go to church?
-mommy, where is daddy?
put a filter on it, kid-
don't you ever think before you speak?
No filter needed, no filter
wanted.
My body, my face, and my beauty shine effortlessly
without
effort, to cover up what I should be shining
out.
Outside I don´t conform, I accept and
neglect
There is not one word
That could describe who I am.
I will just list them.
Funny and goofy.
What is my purpose in this world?
To take up space,
to be a filler in an empty place.
The idea of existence has always been confusing,
Am I here to succeed?
Or will I end up losing?
ME, I am Play-doh
ME, malleable, capable of being anything imaginable
ME, smelling of youth, glee, and a Crayola crayon
ME, tasting salty from hard work and overuse
ME, feeling cool and refreshing
Ask 90% of the people that know me who I am, and they’ll tell you-
She’s a writer,
She’s a scholar,
She’s a daughter, a sister,
An animal lover,
twenty four and desperateto surviveliving off leftoversfrom the generousold catholic mandown the streetand scraps foundon half eaten platesleft for me to [clean]in the dishroom, I make
When I was little, I was told by society that I could be anything and everything I wanted to be as long as I worked for it
That I could be anything and can be a part of the American Dream
But what exactly is the American Dream?
She's unique and delicate as a flower,
Not so much like a Gerbera, but more like an Orchid.
Her dark almond eyes penetrate your soul in just a glance,
I am optimistic and creative
I wonder what is beyond the universe
I hear voices
I see opportunities
I am optimistic and creative
I pretend to pretend
I feel inventive
Behind the filters
Behind the makeup
Behind the faces of emotions
There is a blank slate.
We start out as blank slates,
Molded by the society that raises us,
Makes us strong,
calm in a tempest
blown unbroken Centered Strong
Balanced unmoving
Unassuming plain
cold - blank canvas vivid - hot
eddy of Passion
Currents flow over
Who am I when nobody can see?
Behind closed doors and darkness,
I am truly me.
Guarantee.
I am the one with the big heart.
You know…?
The one that always ends torn apart.
I have no use for filters
I could not care less about them
If you need one to see yourself
Then who are you without them?
Cary Grant did not need one
He looked sharp in any tone
We only haveone life,this life,no other life.The past isbehind us.The futurelies ahead.So do what you want,and not what you hate.No one can tell you
In a dream of yesterday I see
I am not he I was born to be.
Diluted and changed, I'm now someone
Who's merely a speck beneath the sun.
Altered by those who promised me good,
"Tell me about yourself."
My teacher thumbs through a stack of personality pages,
plops one, unceremoniously, on my desk.
"This is just so I can get to know you all."
I'm a fucking mess, did you know
You didn't, I don't think,
Let me show you the smile I hide behind
So you can tell me how familiar it looks
Because you've seen it every day that
I've known you
You can tell I'm not faking when I've begun to climb a nearby tree
When it's not covered in ants
I'm myself when I'm working, helping others or just being plain selfish
When I'm drinking my morning tea
RAW
Who knew you could lie to yourself by posting a picture?
Who knew you could be denying yourself,
Just to appeal to Misters
Misters that don’t make a difference.
Trying to find someone who’ll
My face with no filter is a face I am proud to post
My freckles and my blush are the things I love the most
Many people say I could use some cover-up
But nothing beats the smile I bring when I want to say wassup
My family used to have a fish tankfilled with cute little fishiesthat were more of a hindrance than a convenience:clean the tank clean the tank clean the tankmy parents chanted, a laborious prayer
Without filters, my photos bare entry into my soul
A crystal clear snapshot of life that Instagram posts cannot hold
When choosing a filter, sadness and sorrow get glossed over and hide
Webster’s’ Illustrated Dictionary.
Published 1954.
470,000 words.
Page 98.
In between the word caitiff,
a coward,
and cajole,
to persuade with flattery,
Hello beautiful child, flower child.
Whenever you look at the world you make it smile.
The way you walk, the way you talk, it honestly just inspires.
You would never know you're some peoples desires.
They say I have big eyes
So I can see truth through your lies
They say I have big lips
So I can speak my mind
Refresh, scroll, refresh, scroll;
I know by doing this it will take it’s toll.
Covet, envy, you become a green monster.
We want to post a picture too, be another flaunter.
A million selfies, now a million and oneI've sent to the eyes of the man who held the gun.The gun of the happiness I asked him ownOn account of the interest and affection he'd shown.
We often fear that of which we do not know or what we do not understand.
We hate what we see and what we cannot.
We become angry and fixated on the flaws of the universe and ourself.
A few hundred likes really mean nothing
A perfect face and a beautiful smile,
Hidden behind a wall of insecurity,
Under the waves of social validation.
The shreiking self doubt drowns out true beauty;
Shall I compare me to a wretched night?
The tinder of my mind’s bone dead and dry,
And the lightning’s wrath doth set the for’st alight.
Tis’ a wonder that one would not die!
I rub my eyes,
Eyeliner,
Mascara,
Streaks my face.
Makeup remover,
Wipe,
By wipe,
It disappears.
I continue,
Foundation,
Concealer,
Doe-eyed lids
scrape away
the beads of my dreams,
opening me up to the kind of morning
that mumbles.
The me I know is the dawn of myself,
what is left when I
unfasten from my
A gainless challenge it is to connect intellect proud with lashes long, eyes veined, and sanguine colors wetly flooding merriment into chapped lips and brown cheeks cratered;
I've always been called beautiful
Not expected to be smart
But to be conceited
I value my appearance
Loving, caring, an open book
Trustng of others without a second look
It's crazy how I can see the best in others
But it took me so long to see the best in me
Who I was used to depend on how others felt
Heart pounding; stomach churning; homework I’ve had a week to do open in another tab
I text my friends and watch YouTube videos and listen to myself
Tell myself I’ll do what has to get done soon
I mean—
History repeats itself
it's why we're here again.
Black versus white
but this time it's times ten.
We need to be aware
that this gon' get us nowhere.
No! It's not him, her, or them;
I am not fake.
I will not hide behind a filter.
My words are real,
sometimes cunning, never fake.
Everyone is beautiful
in their own way.
Why hide that beauty?
People talk about me and it used to bother me
they said I was annoying
they said I was loud
and weird
I’m Sorry
By Haley Matlock
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I wasn’t there.
I’m sorry I wasn’t good enough.
I’m sorry I let you down.
I’m sorry.
I stand in the middle-
of a cicle.
We all stand there-
I suppose.
All around there are millions, trillions, zillions-
googolplex paths I could have chose.
But I am unsure, so-
Three years ago I wrote a poemShaming people for using "love" so freelyI now realize my error and malady
I'm the wall in your backyard, paint falling off and all.
I am a jammed stapler.
I'm clumsy and lose balance like a seesaw.
I am a wet phone in a bowl of rice.
I am a creature, one they call human
One that was born to live in a society where filters identify me
Every selfie
Everay smile
Every scar
Filters identify me
Oh Hello. Hi. Uhm..
How do you do?
I'd like to introduce myself to you.
What you see is average.
It’s the same exact spot
Where it happened.
Walking past it everyday
I cannot help but imagine
Another way it could have gone.
The crashing is silenced.
I arrive at my house and it is silent.
The first thing a young woman learns,Is to criticize.We are taught to see only our imperfections.We are taught to look into the mirror and self destruct.We focus on our faults.Of course we taunt others..
Underneath the filters lies a beauty, not for the quality of appearance, but the circumstantial strength that shines brighter than even the most flawless.
Behind the face
There is only me
Out at sea
Behind the face
There is only love
There is only passion
I raise my anchor
From my ship
Out to see
She walks down the street
With a skip in her feet
Smiling at the people that passed her by; they turned the corner
She released a deep sigh
She waited until they were gone
And then the tears fell
“Look at her belly,” hisses a girl to her friend, staring me up and down. They gawk, unable to process this.
To the World Im just another Black Male,
Everyone assumes I am going to fail,
Troubled, violent, ghetto, stupid,
In reality I'm undisputed,
just another stereotype is how they see me,
If it's true,
What they say
About a picture
Being worth a thousand words,
Why do we hide?
Behind all these filters?
These lies?
I hate my smile.
Abstract Is what I desire
What I admire
About the world
Loving each other like when boy meets girl
Or when Girl Meets Guy
Love catches the gaze of the inner abstract eye
I am a recovering pessimist,
Seasoned with jadedness,
Topped off with some obnoxious realism.
My first language is sarcasm
I am well versed in profanity
I am a maker of things
Vintage, Vignette,
All of these aesthetic filters.
But nothing is nearly as attractive
As the original.
For it's a tough job to do,
To mask the truth.
Take away the B.B. cream
Wooden eye brush and chemical buttered lipstick
And manufactured eyelashes,
You have the foundation of a natural beauty.
I will always be a child
I tend to run into people from walking too long in my daydreams
I chase the bird that doesn’t want to be caught
I love the boy who always seems too far away, or too busy to talk
You ask who I am,
No filter?
Just a girl , interrupted,
Off kilter.
I am sweatpants and no makeup,
Eating ice cream after breakups,
I am a world traveler in my mind,
Looking in the mirror I see many things those that vary from style to emotion and such in between
Front view camera #Flip
Everybody sees me--
At least, they think they do...
Everybody loves me--
but not they way I'd like them to...
Looking in the mirror I see many things those that vary from style to emotion and such in between
Front view camera #Flip
they say the eyes are the window to the soul,
maybe that explains why hers are so cold.
she stumbles through he world each and every day
hoping to soon find her way.
Knowledge grows,But so does temptation.Sometimes, that’s what ruinsOur younger generations.
The world before Instagram,
who were we then?
What was a filter?
Did we photoshop to be thin?
When using a filter,
what is it your hiding?
Are you embarrased by blemishes
I could see the hatred seething from the eyes of my reflection,
Drowned in a world with its definition of perfection.
I could hear voices from the radio and TV,
Explaining how society would perceive me.
Smears, smudges hide my face
In the dusty reflections of the mirror
With shaking hands I can place
The nose, the hair, the eyes
But in a glimpse they're chased
From my tentative tries
//time magazine calls us the “me me me” generation-
they say we’re lost in a digital age and no google
search could find us.
we’re made out to be robotic
narcissistic runaways defined in
The beauty of the sky, a lake of blue
to own a piece of this glory beyond.
God's creation gathered round He knows who,
on the eve of the beginning he dawned.
A forest of majestic green wonder
It’s a list of things
That goes on forever,
But gets smaller as it goes,
That describes who I am.
Every part of the list,
Looks at itself as on a ladder,
And climbs the hill to be larger.
There comes a noise I hear.
I wonder if it's here.
It screeches and yowls and it only comes at night.
Night is cruel unlike a brave knight.
Someimes I feel like the noise is an eye.
Behind closed doors...
That can mean so many things
Who are you?
When no one is looking
When no expectations are placed on you?
Authenticity is such a hard thing
To find in a world like ours
Imperfect.
What two words do you see?
"I'm" and
"Perfect."
What does that mean?
I am Perfect.
What do I know?
I AM Perfect.
Do you know what I'm not?
A model.
An actress.
No one has seen the real side of me. Remove my "rise, valencia, sierra, or inkwell" filter and you shall see
A passion, a reason for life,
Its what i strive for,
What I'm scared I'll never find.
I've tried it all;
Art - wasn't expressive enough,
Sports - needed to be more tough,
flawless skin
perfect hair
trendy clothes
confident additude
perfect smile
take away the filters and what do you see
acne covered skin
damaged hair
dirty clothes
broken smile
Click, snap, image captured
Edit, draw, redirected
Delete, delete
Photo recaptured
Upload now, photo posted
This is me #nomakeup
Eyes of slivers, wrinkles, dried tears
This is I #nofilter
I was never supposed to be anything.
If you had charted the stars at my birth,
You’d have an absence because I was
Born in the after-
Noon. You wouldn’t see anything in the
Hair
the color of a wooden chair.
Eyes
the color of blueberry pies.
Mind
a little less than refined.
Words
like a misspelled clade of birds.
Me
polluted and free
How do I sound?
Through the smile I place on my face
Sometimes I sound like tears (I’m choking back)
From the strain of all of this weight on my shoulders
I am from color
From different medias
I am from different shades and tints
Thick, thin, smooth and shiny textures
Of different hues
Lots of shapes and sizes
Of what others could use
The Experience of Self
By Andrea Spencer
Silver fingers
brushing soft pine’s needles
-whose frost scrapes
and burns this season-
into her human hands.
I have always had
Big Blue Eyes.
There are other parts of me
that aren’t so grand, but
my eyes
are wonderful.
Within them, I can see
Not just blue,
But green and gray
Who do you talk to when there is no one to talk to?
I guess you talk to yourself, but then you're crazy... right?
My name is Richie, but I’m not rich.
Learning is where I get my niche.
Some say that I am very smart,
But, that’s because I work hard.
A doctor someday I want to be,
All you see is a mask
But can you really say
That what you see is who I really am?
You see what I want to show
There's a lot you don't know
about the girl you have class with everyday
Acne , Dark spots , Hair real hectic I'm still beuatiful without the filter i accept it
I may be a little rough around the edges
seeking havoc
causing damage
menace to society
#NoFilter Poem MONSTER
Who am I?
Without a filter
Is something
That most don’t like
Asshole, insane, crazy
Names that I’ve been called
His hair is messy and curly
Some would say that it is girly
But to that he'd reply
With a glint in his eye
That really they're just being surly
Eyes that see only through spectacles
Slumber disguises your blemishesCrema smooths your skinAmaro makes you look olderRise makes you look thinLudwig brightens your features
So, you want to know who I am?Are you sure you can handle the answer?So many answer this question with the usual:I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a student, a worker.
Track
Sprinters
Like(gasp)
Rockets,
Making
The
Only
Left
Turn.
It(gasp)
Is
Only
A
Hundred(gasp)
Meters
Now,
You(gasp)
Can
You can only frame me in a moment,A picutre that leads lies to the future.The time for false perfection came and went,A smiling skull without stable sutures.
The makeup. The smiles. The friends.
I'll let you see.
The parties. The crowd. Through the lens
that's what you see.
Authentic,
Loving,
True,
Or Bold,
I watch life go by as I turn old,
I love the world around me,
I love the people near,
to my heart...
Hate,
Screaming,
Confused,
No filter, no filter,
Can't you see me
Sepia, 4 by 6
I need to read me.
"No cameras, please"
Can't you see me,
I have leaned back 40 degrees
Gesturing towards the background, see?
how do you desceice to someone
something they have never felt?
the tortures existens that god hath delt me
each day i promise myself that i will make it threw the day
one step at a time.
Eyeliner, mascara, eyebrows, blush
Hair just the right amount of messy and cute
Tilt head but don't break necks
Smile big but not too big
Click...click...click, click, click
In my own skin
I am me
Its hard to accept, hard to see
Day in and day out
I'm told differently
That everyone should accept the beauty I must be
My skin holds a story
That can not be explained
I come from a street where cars allmove at 60 miles an hour, wherelights flash throughthe window at 3 am,unseen behind the laptop screen,the consuming thingsthat keep me worrying.
America has caught a fever
FIrst it took Oscar
Then it stole Treyvon
Next it was Jordan, then Kendrick then Odin
Following were Raymond, Jonathan then Reinesha
Everyone has a filter,
Something that covers up the real problem,
Something to hide behind.
It's a constant battle,
But sometimes when your adrenaline is pumping,
That filter falters.
"Raise your hand if you agree with this statement."
I never did raise my hand because no one else did.
My teacher always got mad and went on a tangent,
I really wish I could of made that bid.
You can stare into a glossy surface,
water stained but,
you can see what you strive to see
a reflective pool
rippled with a flash
the corners of my lips lift
with yours.
An eerie imitation
This is to the camera, that sees me as nothing but
Delicate bones and pearly whites
My essence captured through awkward captions and
My worth measured by likes and heart bytes
Do you see what I see?
Without filters
Without makeup
My hair is natural and ever changing with the seasons
Eyes as brown as coffee
Reflecting my mother’s
Down to earth and genuine
Who am I
I ask as I gaze into the clear blue sky
What makes me unique
My personality, I think
I am a little bit of everything
All rolled into someone who cannot sing
I feel the music in my body though
I think we are all flawless because
Flaws are intangible thoughts
Who defines these edges on a person?
On the inside hallucinations are created, a sense of clarity while the others stay sedated.
Graphite hits paper, scribbles take form, even the beauty he’s known has to grow horns.
There's this lassie
she's so classy.
Face like a clown
society thinks she's worthy of a crown,
but take it off
without the make-up she is lost.
Now a lady
she's so pretty.
May be a nerd
There ain't no holding me back
Understand this is who I am
So when you plan to attack
Just know that I don't give a damn
I can't stand deception;
Altering the realness'.
Before I could walk
I learned to talk
But I didn’t learn to speak my own words
I learned to care what others heard
And what they thought I was
I learned to rhyme and tell time and sit and behave
Song of Innocence
They give me smiles, so I smile
They give me love, so I love
They tell me I’m beautiful, and so I am beautiful
These are the lyrics to my video.
- Just a young kid, turned to a man
- Looking at the world, I’m just dreaming in my head
- All the people, races, different physiques
I once made a choiceWhen a choice made meConsider the soulWhich I would solely beI could've gone rightTo just fitting inLeft all that was leftOf me, quitting again
Every word that he spoke dripped from his tongue like a melting popsicle as I was left to try and mop up the puddle. He was a 1000-piece puzzle, a puzzle I convinced myself I could single-handedly solve.
In my life I have experienced change with time.
Life, death, moving, changing.
It's all apart of it.
I look into the mirror and look at how I, myself, have changed.
Most of the time, we cover up what we don't like about ourselves
whether it be our life, the way we look, or hey...maybe even our smells.
I am a victim of it too, I put on makeup almost every day
When you look at the world What do you see?
Do you view your food and friends in Mayfair and Valencia?
Your wasting your time deciding which accent makes your skin look tan
Lost, Wandering in darkness
secluded, disconnected
there's always one point in your life where nothing makes sense.
You are not here
Mentally or physically.
Like a dream but not vivid
Who am I without a filter?
Before I adjust the contrast, saturation, shadows, and sharpness of my image.
Before I change the filter to Mayfair or Valenica.
Before I get my make up and hair just right.
My name is Brandon and I am a runner.
I run, I work, I learn.
I am always moving, even while asleep, and love to be outdoors.
I love learning and growing and always knowing.
I was always taught to be the leader of the group
To be the one that everyone looks too
From day one that was my job until I die
To be the apple of everyone’s eye
But underneath I am so much more
I've been told what to do
I've been told what to do to be a better person
Or was it to be a better applicant
I've been told what to do to be more respectful
Or was it to be more obedient
Teens today are dependent on a lot of different things
Cellphones, make up, video games. Selfies, illegal activites.
But, without all these advances, what exactly are we?
Without our phones, we feel powerless
A guitar, like I play, makes music with its strings.
They vibrate the air around them and seemingly sing as they start to ring.
Plug in a pedal, and distort the heavenly sound,
I,
I am different without the filters,
I sound different and look different when using filters.
When I don't use filters, I sound and look nerdier than usual,
I hate filters,
I don't need all those flashing lights to make me look nice. I have a natural beauty that comes from the sun light. A filter does no justice, to a person who is born gorgeous. Any camera aimed at me is a Kodak momement.
#Behindthefilter
I look in the mirror and what do I see?
A girl with an identity, oh wait that’s me
You want to know who I am without a filter?
I am the original masterpiece without a filter
I am the way God made me without a filter
I am who I am supposed to be without a filter
A wall, rising tall
made of thick stones
Guarded by hundreds of soldier
Inside stands a king
broad, strong, confident
he is impenetreble
Take down that wall
Take away the soldiers
Insomnia. The result of my overbearing thoughts of a past I can’t change, of a future I’m terribly unsure of. Most nights I barely sleep, some nights not at all. However, I suppose this is what comes of one whose thoughts consume their soul.
I only see myself once, maybe twice, a day.
How can that be? You think,
With a world of mirrors, cameras, and reflections,
Everyone is everywhere.
You're right, but I mean my real self.
Steadily walking down the streets of the boring city,
Strangers take glances at the face that she does not always remember.
Her pessimistic mind suffers through anxiety because of its wondering thoughts.
A filter is an unattractive face covered with a mask
Spraying perfume at the trash
Covering a bad hair with a hat
This is who I am
A line of just five
A sister of three
A daughter of one
A friend of many
This is who I am
A student for life
A love for music
A life for writing
I wake up
With crazy hair and foul morning breathe
Flawless
I post up
Unfiltered selfies to show the real me
Flawless
Ride round in it
Until my mom need her car back for work
Flawless
In the aftermath of a blaze,
only the ashes are left--
Remnants of a thick haze
scattered and bereft
My vanity has become an army
Pictures purporting to show unparalleled perfection
In an attempt to introspect
I write this verse with my heart
Very somber, filled with regrets
But with clarity beyond any extrinsic breath
The eyes of my mother were a color that
enveloped me in her warmth.
The brown rings surrounded me on days
when I needed them the most,
And drowned out any inhibitions
I am a child of the sun, kissed to a golden caress of honey skin, shining bright on the outside from the light within
I am the bird that flies without limitation through the endless sky, filled with the light blue hue of my aspirations
Here let me tell you about life out of disguise,
About who we are, free of misconception and lies.
Some people, they have got it all so, so wrong,
Having countless filters on pictures and saying "selfie game strong".
I've got a problem with demonizing black women's features. Black women of all shades are queens.
I can make silly faces,
And I can make you smile.
My face is filtered, yes, and that hides the criticisms.
Now, come on, 'You're beautiful'
Oh really?
Is your God benevolent?YesYour church donatesMuch money toImpoverished nationsBecause God says it's rightNoHundreds of children, younger than fourDie in impoverished nations
kicking up whitegold dust as the soon-gone-storm passes,
forcing scaled lizards from their rocks and waking
thumb-sized owls within the spines,
I found myself undeniably arid.
Im like a toddler in the driver's seat
I thought the freeway looked promising
it didnt seem difficult from what I seen
too much time alone in the other seat
knowledge is nothing without experience
I am a wanderer
I allow myself to explore the outer reaches of my mind and world
I’ve shoved myself relentlessly in to the Valencia, Ludwig, Sierra, and Hefe.
I’ve broken my body to fit the mold.
I put on my make up and pick out my clothes,
To mirror the stars of TV shows.
I do all of this for that one photo,
I won’t go without it and let myself show.
My hair isn’t perfect, not styled just-so,
I am lost and anxiousI wonder what everyone thinks of meI hear the chatterI see the smilesI want to help them to know meI am kind and anxiousI pretend to be okay with myself
Flawed your a beautiful creature With thorns of purple petals that tend to flow to mellows of sweet shallow melodies and you tend to have the sweetest n
Hide the imperfections of your skin
Don't let them see the flaws
But are they flaws if they cannot be changed?
The uniqueness of you, they are the cause
Too many freckles, too small of a girl
I am more than the self-focused, filtered picture on social media sites that supposably represent me.
I am more than the makeup I buy, or the things I do to so heinously change my appearance for others to approve of me.
Can there really be
someone better than me?
No, there can't because
I'm the only one, you see
Ain't very many people with my personality
Not my name, not my talents or my family
A lot of people know me as
@haleythebirdie singing "All That Jazz"
Or lockedinabirdcage
Analyzing why paper beats rock
And for those followers, I am on stage on the web when I talk
Or 15byerha
I'm going to bring up
Gender equality
Being a "feminist"
And what that means.
Let's talk about stereotypes
And why they exist
Why we continue to accept
The explanations they give
As if:
You know it's hard to feel flawless when you've been where I've been, and seen what I've seen, and done what I've done.
you began to undress me
and as each button of my blouse becomes undone
a sliver of some imperfection slips past
my possessions that once possessed me settle in a pool around my ankles
My bravery is the blueprint from the pain left behind
My veins like electricity running through this bare boned house
Keeping the generator pumping, sending air out of my mouth
Windows with no curtains, eyes makeup free
Instagram is a trend most of us do
Hash tag filter
Hash tag life
Hash tag me
A filter out picture is what people see
I’m more than a filtered out picture though
In all honesty I know the real me
We all knowthere's always room for improvement.But filters and makeup?Those are more like cover ups!
She wants to feel pretty and break the mold
but society tells her to do what's told
She wants to be happy everyday
but everyone says there's a price to pay
She wants to go back to her younger days
One tear
Is all I will let fall
Because if I let more come
Running down my cheeks
It will be like a river
That floods
Until it reaches my heart
The place where you are
Get lost.
Just because we live in a world that is 2/3 extrovert does not mean I wish to join your ranks.
I'm done with feeling less than because I would rather sit quietly and listen
From the coils on my head
To the Birth mark on my right arm
From the pigment of my skin
To the beauty of my charm
I am the expressed genes of my DNA
Genetically selected me I must say
I don't recognize my own reflection anymore.
That sad, broken girl in the mirror can't be me, can it?
How did this happen?
How do I fix this?
That's it. No more selfies.
No more selfies will I post,
I come from the land of the free
the land of me
In a nation with unlimited freedom,
covered only by social demeans,
Laws set by people with no power to make laws
dictate how we run our lives,
The trees are tall and powerful.
Green moss is growing bright.
Mountain views will take your breath away,
You can see them dark or light.
Dont be suprised if you find me here,
Every picture I take, I take with a sense of accomplishment.
It's not the beauty of the picture or the perfection of it,
Its the understanding that I see behind a picture of myself.
You know, I used to want to be a princess, or a ballerina. I had a little tutu and I loved pink and I went to class every Tuesday and Thursday.
I wish when I smiled, I meant it,
I want my laugh to sound carefree like it did before,
I need to be the center of the picture;
so that I know I wont be the one on the outside.
I miss the way I used to be,
I was born flawless
Why you may ask
Because I'm me
And God made
I'm a woman
I'm a sister
I'm a daughter
I' m a best friend
My imperfections make me flawless
They say I have too much hope.
They say I'm a dreamer.
But when I look out my window,
on a starry night,
I can only see each snowflake fall one by one.
On a starlit night
I’m always complimented on
my perfectly golden skin.
My bronze hue holds
the Flawless’ secret
in an imperfect world
Forgotten words stray from your tongue,
slipping away like the air in your lungs.
Temptations you had, you no longer desire,
left with only an ember sparked from a fire.
Strange thing, authenticity.
It sort of squirms, morphs, blacks out
When you stare,
But sure enough when you forget it
It's there.
Ah, I'm a warrior-princess!
(I hope.)
#Don'tFilterMe
Because I'm #Beautiful
With all my imperfections
Large pores
Uneven skintone
And acne scars
No I'm not 5'10, size 2
Because I'm #Funsize
Petite but hey
From the day you followed me
On this screen that glows in one's imagination so delightfully,
Brown boy, brown boy come around
Come hear the tale of the new kid in town.
He ain't no peach this fine young thing
I heard he aint even got a wedding ring
What so cool about this new fellow
The twinkle in her eye,
is like the stars,
on a clear night.
The blush of her cheek,
is like pedals,
of a soft young rose.
The vibrance of her lips,
is like cherries,
Music is my voice
Lyrics are my words
A mermaids rejoice
In a broken world
My infectious laughter pollutes the air
Jumping in imagination
With love and hope everywhere
Creating inspiration
Water rushes in,
Cracks form
Glass breaks at the drop of a pin
Will you ever be warm?
It is falling apart.
Everything crumbling like a cookie in a two-year olds hand.
Water rushes in,
Cracks form
Glass breaks at the drop of a pin
Will you ever be warm?
It is falling apart.
Everything crumbling like a cookie in a two-year olds hand.
Posted 12 weeks ago:
Angled to make my face look slimmer
Posted 9 weeks ago:
Edited to make my skin look lighter
Posted 7 weeks ago:
Blurred to erase my imperfections
Posted 4 weeks ago:
The stars have alignedGot you on my mindMy heart's cold and oh so lonelySo I swallow some sinFor the pain that I'm inA cigarette, a blade, a dietWhen we promised we'd stop
God's Perfect Imperfection
I'm different.
My body emanates with its own scent
It wasn't fair to me,
To deal with all of your
Bottled-up, pent-up shit
When you couldn't deal with it yourself
It wasn't fair to me,
To always scare me by saying
You'd be dead by morning
With out a filter My eyes are a pair of c list stuntmen Imperfect but BoldMy nose is large But has potential that is quite undersold My lips are doors that are blocked by the ruins of broken pride
FREE: from conformity
a blanket statement on a t.v.,
a color slab does not define me,
My Spirit soars on natural wings...
"Lift not the painted veil",
they say.
Skin covered, neck to ankles
Boys will be boys, they say
But why can't I be myself?
I wear crop tops
I wear skirts.
Does that make me a slut?
No
Does that make me, me?
Yes
The Champion Lightweight of the Worldthe broken boy on the bathroom floorfed up with his family’s fussindowns a dose of robitussinand crawls his way to lock the door.
I watched as the hand went limp.
I heard the sirens cry out.
I felt the rain water drip.
As it spluttered about.
Let’s take a swim
In the Ocean of Me
And from surface to bottom
We’ll see
My normal and strange
My average and special
My sides from all angles.
Look from above toward
She brews her ownbecause she likes to seeSepia seeping upShe cannot sleep so sheNeeds coffee to keep her eyes –brown ringed around soft green– awake
Three months.
That's how long I wore makeup in eighth grade-
How long I tried to fit ubiquitous standards.
Solutions for fear of inadequacy:
I will not hold a lie against my face,
a pixellated mask, heavy on my conscience.
The sound of youth constructing barriers of separation
is thunderous and inescapable.
Their tiny, rough hands
I feel most alive on the US-15 with my mother, my father, and my puppy.
I am ME,
And only I can see
Through the filters,
Into the center
Of my self.
I am ME.
The best I can be,
Without care
Of how my hair
May look in a picture,
I am a huge contradiction.
Yet all of my things
Work together to
Create the huge, beautiful mess
That is authentically me.
I am
Sarcastic and kind
Intelligent and impulsive
Here I am with my eyes opened wide
My jeans covering itchy thighs no lies
Typing at a computer in a nearby college
Doing sociology homeowrk to increase my knowledge
Having four eyes isn't enoughh to see
Beauty cannot be measured,
Nor can it possibly be the only thing that matters,
But perception is reality,
And what the human mind believes instantly morphs into truth,
I am a slave to its tyranny,
Who am I?
Certainly not who you see with your eye,
not the person you see online,
you see the person I provide.
The person who tries to act cool,
and will act like a fool,
for my peers at school.
building perfection inside my headan architectural masterpiecethat cannot ever be achievedwe don't have the technologyto unmake my make-believe
tearing it down brings relief.
No filter is needed to see who this is
A girl with such a bliss
Someone who they miss
But in history, they've shown of me what should be
As now I uncover my destiny
Now the filters may disappear
The tablet hovers before my face
And captures it with an audible click
a still reflection of me
will join a sea of photography
and my lungs are about to be flushed
with eyes that are thirsty for their
Perfect. Happy. Put-together.
I get that a lot
Alone. Messy. Confused.
I feel that a lot.
I am utterly raw, entirely my own element
In this world constantly trying to change me
Composed of my thoughts and my ideas
I consist of the instrumentals I lend an ear to
During the countless hours I spend writing
I find myself insecure when I look at myself without any editing.
I'll feel as if I am discrediting...
..as I compare myself to other girls,
I believe that I am not beautiful to the whole-wide world.
Pick this up
Pick that up
Shut your mouth
Women should be seen
Not heard.
Make me tea
Make me breakfast
Make me tea
Make me lunch
Make me tea
Make me dinner
so this is what you get when you wash me down
scrub me with scalding water until my skin is raw
lather and rinse and repeat
wash the layers of armor away
we watch as they swirl down the drain
There are only one of me
filters might change the surface
but filters dont change me
I am a young man creating my own mark
with a passion for new experiences
a history of mistakes, with more to come
Mirrior, mirrior on the wall who's the fakest of them all?
With the title of fairest claimed
My true identity has long been chained
My voice no longer has meaning
It counts for nothing
Take away the smile.
Take away the make up.
Take away the thoughtful quote that you thinked up.
Take away the likes.
And the ego feeding compliments.
Me, Myself, and Myself
This is everyone I trust
I've been fooled and taken over
My personal safety is a must
Me, Myself, and Myself
These 3 are my bestfriends
Im sure they won't ever hurt me
Maybe I'm crazy and insane. Maybe we are not the same. But now I know what I see. Every time you look at me. It's innocence, That light. A light that shines through any dark night. And tho you are far away. These words I still have to say.
Who am I?
I am your average teen.
My parents are divorced.
My friend has committed suicide.
I’m not the riches or coolest person in the world.
I don’t have tons and tons of friends.
Isn’t it weird how your unconscious consciously decides
Based upon what you unconsciously desire
So what you want isn’t what you admire
As her fingers dance across the piano keys
I can hear her life story
Her loneliness from a lost love
It switches to anger then abruptly changes
To a jubilant tune
I have flaws.
I'm not as beautiful as I want to be.
You can see the unsightly pimple on my chin.
Behind the beige powder, behind the jet black liner,
Behind the brave brown eyes, behind the fake smile,
There is a girl.
Aside from the straight auburn hair, aside from the sculpted brows,
The tears burn as they run down my cheeks,
And slide down to my shirt.
Sleep has hidden itself for weeks
While I ask, "when will He end this hurt?"
I try so hard to smile
When emotions say,
Procrastinator
Extremely awkward
Rebellious only in her thoughts
Flawed
Expert of all things unimportant in life
Completely insane
Truly unique and one of a kind
I take a deep breath,
And the filters are turned off.
My eyes are dark and tired
My shouders - slumped in defeat
My smile is now being worried away
Between my imperfect teeth
My hair comes down
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what if that view is fallacious?
They come in at night when all is still
they scrape away and run and steal
my happiness and pleasure
They see it as their treasure.
Down, down, down they go into the hole
where time stops and no body knows
When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a different girl living in a Utopian world.
The girl is different from me, way different from what I've seen.
You cannot see me. I am a faceless person behind a computer screen. All you know about me is what I am about to tell you. Without all the physical stuff, this is me. The authentic and me that I strive to be.
The darkness of her hair
The lightness to her eyes
The sweetness to her voice
The kindess to her soul
She never lets you down
She always is there
She will keep you safe
Before each deployment,
we moved about quietly,
so as not to upset you
You desperately sending friend requests on Facebook,
from a laptop,
alone in the darkness of your room
I am closing walls and open doors,
A memory painted on the windows of your soul
In any color you like, as long as it is a shade of black.
I am discontinuous, a broken mirror
Slowly scrolling through,
those pictures don't even look like you.
Tainted and changed,
edited again...
That isn't you in that photo,
all of your changes are for show.
Media allows for creativity
Look at me.I mean it, look at me.Not at my face, look in my eyes.Look where my real beauty lies.I know you’ve been missing it for some time.Because on the outside,
I travel by train and I look out
My window, my legs are too close to the grey-man beside me
Headphones in, power chords, progressions
I am progressing, and my knees
Need a shave; they catch on the silk of his suit.
“Oh thank god for the Lo-fi filter, I haven’t been tanning in weeks!”
“Well at least you’re skinny! What am I like, supposed to do?”
…So we hide behind a filter to mask the blemishes and imperfections.
Why hide beauty, when it is all you can see?
Shall you treat yourself to delights and one's rights
We live in a world of freedom yet hate,
Where all face the gate of the fear for imperfection.
To choose and stay behind this gate,
And let words and actions choose your fate,
My girl -
Translucent in the sun.
Blue webs
And purple strings that run.
A wave of midnight crowns my head.
My girl -
Dark clouds around the eyes.
Bony
Who am I?
Am I perfect
No
Am I confident
No
Am I a lier
No
But I am smart
I am unique
And maybe a little shy at times
I do not fake my personality
I show my true colors
My name is A'Jayla
All of Joy and Anger,
I'm Young
Filled with Longing and Amazement
-
Above my right eyebrow
there's a scar
From the day after Four Years of
ignorance or innocence
I discovered the death of my favorite dog.
And all around my arms
Without that FLASH in my face
Without the MAKE-UP stuck on my skin
That is when you SEE the Authentic ME
Every day, millions of us take a deep breath before stepping out that front door. We take a deep breath before walking up to our friends, talkign to new people, putting on that smile.
Hearts and thumbs up seem to feed our souls
We feel the need to recieve validation by the touch of others through a screen
I've been cursed to spend my life fighting.
Darkness and war follows me everywhere I go.
Fire and venom are in my veins.
I have heard the expression,
"There is a method to my madness,"
but it does not apply to me.
I claim that my insanity was my birth right;
in my past lives I earned to plead it for this one
Filters do not make me,
they don't choose my destiny,
they don't tell me what I'm going to be.
I'm still me at the end of the day,
I'm still going to express what I need to say,
Once upon a time there was a princess who was locked in a tower longing to be rescued
Except I’m too fucked up to be a princess
And when princesses cry it looks pretty and delicate and
When I do my eyes swell
Lost I am,
Deep within the wounds,
Wounds of situations I wish would end soon,
Lost I am,
Confused and hopeless,
Struggling to find myself in world of "nope-ness"
Lost I am,
This poem deviates slightly from the suggested topic explaining, instead, the psychological state of adolescents and women in this day and age who aspire to a level of perfection that doesn't exist and how the failed attempt to do so leads to
A mountain only falters in the moment before it collapses
Just as I do.
We stand tall and proud and firm
As the world carves us hollow.
I'm in a constant state of madness
with my disarrayed hair
I stopped tampering with
and my bubbly, bright voice
that can't seem to stay quiet.
I enjoy the simple things-
Who am I?
The kid with the fancy clothes,
Or the boy with an overload of emotions?
Who am I, I ask once more,
Perhaps I am the kid that has too many opinions,
When one looks in the mirror
We all wonder what’s on the other side
Is the image we see on the front
Just us trying to hide
Never have I been someone different
Never have I tried to change
As a woman
I can act like a lady
I can dress like a lady
I can expand my vocabulary so that
I sound like a lady
I can walk with the right amount of sway
Like a lady
With just enough tease
When I remove that mask of insecurities
You see a face of all my histories
My lips part like the red sea
And every second now is as hard as two seconds then.
Knowing theres 86,400 seconds in a day, youve fought 172,800.
Maybe I plaster a smile on my face to please
The same pretty smile you see dancing across my Instagram feed
You can question what's lurking in my psyche
But I am not fake
Who am I behind the dye?
When you take away the acne
If you can look past the watery eyes
I am the girl that tries until the end.
The one that stays up late every night
Trying to maintain a high GPA.
I used to be covered in filters
They draped my body like exotic cloths
I smiled when other people smiled
Laughed at other peoples' jokes
Lived other peoples' lives
But I never lived my own
I , am original . Without the filters I think I am a pretty handsome person . Natural is what i am without technology . My own is what I am without technology .
Hashtag "no filter"
What does it mean?
No changes, no edits
All just as it seems
A picture is posted
No filter ignored
We idealize beauty
from a news feeds board
Don't know who I am
But I've been finding my way since six grade
Small in stature , but stand like a statue.
My eyes are innocent
My power is fear
But I strong ...
In the mirror I always see a face,
A face who I think is full of disgrace.
I’d hide the flaws and impurity,
Masks are what we hide behind everyday
We feel as if it is the only way
To fit the standards of society
Afraid of individuality
Lipstick and lip gloss.
Eyeshadow, eye liner, and mascara.
BB cream, foundation, powder, and blush.
Did you ever think that you look beautiful without all that makeup?
A boy lost in fantasy,
That is I.
What is reality,but an inverted thought
to a melancholy view.
The universe is calling,
for adventure and mayhem-so no more stalling.
But that is not all,
It's like I've landed on another atmosphere,
Giving out my own female energy with my beauty.
My natural brownskin, glowing,
I am a figure
Someome people looks up to for an uplift
i am some one you can count on when you have a down day and felling disfigured
i am sheeka
short for danskia archanetta bogle
I am goofy and crazy
bury the filters six feet deep
strip the black & white & sepia
just skin & bones & bird’s nest hair
shielding sleepy eyes from the camera
Crack the code of my spine
And read between the lines
From pages of the diary that’s written in my eyes
Invisible ink in my skin
Marks the flesh that seals me in
It ties and binds, ties and binds
There in my photo
Behind the makeup,
In my eyes,
You may see
Concealed ME
You may say, "You'e
A model on set!
A beautiful woman,
Awating the camera's flash!"
Is it possible to be, simply, black and white in this kaleidoscope world of colors?
Is it possible to be, simply, one low note while others are scales, trills, and melodies?
When people are unreasonable and selfish I want to forgive.
I want to be the best me that I can be.
I wish to give the world the best version of me, and hope that it is enough.
I want to...
Give my best anyway.
I am flawless because I am strong
I'll never quit when things go wrong
with much experience with good and bad
I still won't quit when I am sad
no matter what puts me down
I shine like diamonds on a crown
I am T
I am 16 years old
I am an African-American female
I just want to be myself
I'm tired of hiding who I am
I'm tired of hiding who I am in every aspect of who I am
Picture this, a camera that only highlights true beauty
My camera snaps a photo of all my natural flaws
That is true beauy that reflects
No filter needed
The all High Mighty didn't need a filter
i never been a stranger to the cold ,never been a stranger to the loneliness ,never been a stranger to the lies never been a stranger to the dark and husky nights .It's gotten to the point where i would perfer it to be night just to enjoy the bri
i never been a stranger to the cold ,never been a stranger to the loneliness ,never been a stranger to the lies never been a stranger to the dark and husky nights .It's gotten to the point where i would perfer it to be night just to enjoy the bri
I want others to view me
as a love cloud.
A floating entity.
Something I think
the world needs.
I almost don't
want to be seen.
I wanna be particles
the air someone breathes.
I am ready for departure
Long roads and steps to fill
I see a light growing dimmer
Red lights asleep
the cause of a sleeping pill
I am ready for depature
What do you expect?
All of me is what you get
I never learned how to cover it up
So what's with all this fuss
I've fought too hard for this authenticity
For your idea of simplicity
I am me
Today I am in my khakis as I am leaving for school.
I did not choose them at random
for they are a dress code rule.
I volunteer each Friday at dismissal
and walk the 1.5 mile trek to the city hospital.
Man meets woman with a sword in hand
Like shooting stars caused by fate they clashed
Falling into territory they didn't know where to land
Original plans were shaken and not trashed
resposible and inpendent
preparing to my own rent
not afraid of new beginnigs
keeping my optimstic attutude, I'll never stop grinning
senior in high school
working hard not to be another misguided fool
Jesus walks with in me day by day
When I show them the real me they say it's not okay
They say it's weird and awkward to show who you really are
I sit in class ready to learn but with a heart that’s been burned.
Not because of a boy but because of what I have done to myself.
The real me laughs but doesn’t smile
Behind the filter are tired eyes,
Eyes bags so big, without the filter you can't help but notice it's sag.
Broken down like shattered glass
Carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders
Wishing the world would leave me aone.
Life is complicated that I know
It's hard to understand the truth because
I am sorry for everything I do
I am sorry for everything I say
I am sorry if this offends you
When I look in the mirrorI am disgusted
Turn Tilt Smile Move on
Not a piece feels rightArms too longMouth too smallHair too straight
food sits dispassionate and untouched
content with rejection
white trash bags split at the bottom, wheezing for air
no angel of death stole the breaths of a baby brother that floundered unnoticed in the periphery
What filter to use.
That’s always the question.
Black and white or Mayfair?
Hefe or Crema?
What if the world could see who you really are,
not just a pretty picture,
not just a face,
Slumber
Crema
Ludwig
Rise
Cover up
Hide Behind
Perpetua
Amaro
Aden
Lo-Fi
Change the look
But not inside
Tilt your head
5 years old just me and my mom
As years go by
I ask about the man that never been in sight.
As years go by
I wonder why the man don't want to be in my life.
Big things can come in small packagaes
I'm above average
I stand five feet
Not easy to defeat
A worthy opponent, watch and see
Increasing my seratonin, I bask in the Vegas rays
It’s dusk on the hill as
the heady sky rotates slowly above,
silently aglow with vivid pulsing pink
around the edges, like a child’s fingers
eclipsing the dying flashlight of the sun.
I'm normal, I'm average
I go to school and head to work
and I make sure I do my chores
I wake up everyday, clothes on, teeth brushed
and I leave.
I leave for school and I leave for work
Hidden behind photos and many filters,
There's something about me thats a little off-kilter.
I try to be me, but I'm caught in a snare,
But what makes me me, society doesn't seem to care.
I walk alone sometimes.
you may ask me how i am,
i will say that i am fine and i will ask if you would like to walk with me.
I walk alone sometimes.
it does not bother me,
Who am I?
I am the seconds in between breaths where the thoughts creep in
I am the smile in the sunshine with the windows down in my jeep
What do I see when I look in the mirror?
I used to not know, but now I see clearer.
Some people think all they need are viewers,
But come to find out, I need much, much fewer.
A wall, a wall with a hole so deep, so dark, the depths could never be known.
A road, a road never traveled, nor will it ever be.
An animal, lonessome and mateless, never to find his own.
I grew up and down
in an unstable wonderland.
Pale arms outreach to touch the moon,
but my feet and soul root me
to where I stand.
Surrounded by unconventional
and unusual beauty.
Take away the phone in your hand and the nonexistant makeup on my face.
Take away the blue eyes and red hair that never stays down.
Take away the freckles on my face and the scars from a lost battle with acne.
Mono, Tonal, Noir, Fade
Why must I use one of these to receive no shade?
No shade for the way my skin has small blotches,
But I notice the way he or she watches
My face.
She is a natural beauty
But she only sees the beauty in her smile
Her dark eyes shine in the sun
Her skin is rough her hair long
A voice with a high pitch tone
I’m not a poet I’m a penny flying through the air after you throw it
Off the top of a building or Into the wishing well
I’m wishing well for all my brothers and sisters across the globe
Slick sleet, sleepy things
Stumble over me
Hot mess, camo dress
Be still to not be seen
Fire moths busy
Setting sparks to trees
No time to seek for shelter
As grenades go
"Better Mistakes"
Learn from your mistakes and teach a Prince to be a King.We got to teach the young ones to dream big as one's esteem.
Don't just listen to the "MUSIC"Pay attention to the message.Its the ignorant that has kept the intelligent arrested.
Pills two of them to be exact.
They’re the same, but together they’re a stronger dose.
Together they calm down a savage mind like mine.
Helping to realign the dominos of thought in my head.
She is a young girlRosacea gives it awayFull of life, energy, and strong beliefsShe has a different way of looking at the worldNot to judge but to exploreShe wonders how others will look at her
Look at me and you will see,
Heart, soul, and personality
No make-up can be seen,
On my face so white and clean
Seemingly nothing to cover or hide,
When I add a filter
I feel like I am adding a mask
A mask that I want to cover my imperfections
But then, I start to feel as if I was hiding
Hiding my true self from the world.
I start to question
Adults always tell us
that they know best
They have more experience,
and time, they'll attest
They feed those words
Into our brains
Inject that message into
our infant veins
Discerning marks of beauty from blemish
The tousled mess of curls, uncontrollable
Processed, picked, prodded
Scrutinized, analyzed, ostracized
Ripples of muscles under plump layers
In a room full of people you will see me,
I'll look like the others so it will be hard to notice me,
If you do you'll think that you've discovered me,
You're mistaken and confused by an imagery,
Mom but woman,
Wife but independent,
Teacher and learner,
Beautiful and broken:
I am more than one thing.
English and Spanish,
Bilingüe but gringa,
Foreigner at home,
Within the consticting walls of social media, I am merely but a single soul, "desperate for attention because I am out of the range of society's normalities."
How about you take a closer look before your fill your mouth with judgement.
A smile with a slight crooked tooth
Hair that which curls turn to a frizz
Eyes the color of burning wood
Skin that breaks out with gross pimples
A smile that is contagious
Brown eyes that told the truth even before her mouth opened,
Hair so thick the layers of it against her neck warmed even the coldest part of her,
A nose that solidified her father's presence,
Without pigmintation of the skin
we are one in the same.
Same speices,
same bones.
What defines you from me
and me from another
should be based on one's interior,
not exterior.
"I want to see blood!"
"I want to see hate!"
"I want to see pain written on your face!"
That is what I hear when a person chooses to watch.
To involve themself in a matter more degrading than name calling.
I walk to my room when I get home from school,
And the first place I go, is to the beautiful upright piano.
My heart beats to the rhythm of the music I play.
When I take a picture
I smile and stare at my relfection.
My mind wonders if they will like it
if they will see me the way I see me.
Two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet,
A head and a heart and now I’m complete.
Learning and living each day to the fullest,
Buried with what makes each day the hardest.
Between misery and distress,
Cut offs instead of skirts,
t-shirt instead of sweaters,
earbuds instead of earrings,
is what makes my life a lot better.
Didn't fake a smile as a kid,
The world sees perfection
My friends see intelligence
My family sees dedication
But what do I see?
The world thinks I'm perfect
My friends think I'm a genius
My family thinks I'm happy
Her phone vibrates in her pocket as another "like" is placed on the picture of her postingAs another comment is placed by the people that are boasting
I am laying down on a beach, goose pimples popping up on my legs because the air around the ocean is always cooler and moist, my hair twerking with the wind, and I am smiling awkwardly at the camera.
Without a filter
i am angry
without softened words
i am shouting
for i live in a world where we are expected to be sheep
we are looked down upon
and we are blamed for turmoil
The best photographs
Are the ones when I don’t know
The camera’s there.
Perfect works of art
Are created when the pen
Accepts the stray lines.
Stories are written
Who am I in my pixilated form?
I am filtered and digitally altered
It is NOW that I decide to reform
Because I realize now I needn’t falter
Foundation, bronzer, and then eye make-up?
No, concealer first.
Cheeks are huge, contour them.
No bronzer ever.
I look in the mirror
That’s not me.
The alien attempting to achieve perfection
Behind the likes, filters, posts, and hash tags
Away from the screen and into the light,
There’s a girl who’d never raise her white flag.
She carries her dreams around in a bag,
No one is perfect
let me start with that
No one is perfect
These filters
they hide so much
so much that we are scared of
I too am scared of these flaws
but i open up today
Size 0,
5’11”,
big-eyed,
long-necked,
high-cheek-boned models parading around.
Advertisements making beauty seem within reach as long as I
My braces and brackets. My curls that I love to twirl. Bown eyes. Brows with a high arch. I don't know if I can tell you all begining to start. Yellow skin. 5"6 is where I stand. eighteen and I feel like I'm downing in quicksand.
Excuse me?
What did you just call me?
It wasn’t Miss, Ms., Mrs., Ma’m, or Lady.
It wasn’t my name.
What was your reference?
Oh yeah, narcissistic bitch.
Why? Actually, don’t answer,
What do I look like without a filter?
If you strip away the makeup,
The clothes that are percieved as popular,
And the facade that I wear almost every day,
What is left?
lips brushed with melaninb
a soul willing to set sail
but never selling it
in love with the art
and not the spoils
90s new balance jack
clean, proud of the skin as organic as the soul
A small circle lens knows the real me,
two brown oval eyes, a small round nose,
a smile that glows and hair that flows.
A girl that hides behind,
heartbreak and tears.
You will never see it in her pictures,
Our Paper Bags
I think we all wear paper bagsset like crowns upon our headsand although they’re all the same pale brownwe paint them.
i am short
i wonder if i will become tall
i hear that it is empowering
towering over others
Life isn't measured by the number of likes, favorites, or views.
It doesn't matter how many followers you have.
Instead, life is measured by the people you impact.
How many people did you help today?
I sit in school.
The chair digs into my back,
Eyes bore into the back of my head,
My mind is buzzing
Fingers thrumming against the steel legs.
Entombed inside me is something that is beyond this state of the world,
beyond all the reality TV show drama, the sex scandals, the murder-suicides,
what a Hollywood starlet wore this week, who got shot and blown up yesterday;
Who wants to be like me?
They say I am not popular
They say I am far from perfect
Without the makeup
Without the filters
I am me
And on the inside
I know that I am perfect
Me?
Oh, I,
I am the girl,
the girl with the curly brown hair,
with straightened bangs,
bangs that have grown too long—
long enough to hide my eyes from the world
Who am I
How am I perceived by others because when I look in the mirror I am not examining myself
but viewing the flipped version of a puppet that everyone else sees
In this day and age, it is easy to virtually achieve perfection.
That is what you desire, isn’t it?
As long as you conceal yourself behind your mobile device,
Everyone will see only what you are supposed to be-
Taking a road,
A road down uncharted territory,
From a flower blooming
to a restless seed.
A silly child, know-it-all
wondering amioulsy and understandingly
feeling tall;
Gritty, grimey, beautiful, different
Weird, outspoken, random, structured
Victim, survivor, helper, advocate
Determined, resiliant, hard-worker, teammate
Granddaughter, daughter, neice, sister
My pouting lips,
My freckles,
My brown eyes
brown hair
and blonde tips
are
Exposed.
My red skin,
My frizzy curls,
My chubby wrists
cheeks
and chin.
Sometimes my life is driven by the promise of academic success,
that the school of my dreams awaits my arrival, and that my fame and fortune will sprout from there.
Selfies? Those arent me
my words represent the truest version of myself
without filters I have never sounded more like myself
people go years without finding their voice
well, I have found mines and made it known
I am confident without filters,
And strong without contrast.
Unique without overlays,
And clever without stickers.
I do not need a filter.
Hudson may make me blue,
Without filters or make-up, I am like a flower that grows with natural beauty. I am my own mirror that reflects my true skin, I`m a beauty that is priceless. I`m ordinary pretty.
Some people contest with me about my own identity,
As if I were a defined word they knew, that I was not keen on understanding.
Before the night
During the day
We all hide
In several ways
Hair in face
is my way
With no filter on
I have many flaws
face like sand
and nose so tall
No filter but still a pretty picture
Real story's exposed with scratches
but I'd say it only makes me more richer
no not in money
but in wisdom buuddy
let me spare you all the details that are bloody
You think you know me
You believe I’m like you
Well you couldn’t be more wrong
About the subtext of my psychology
I like quoting movies-
A lot.
I sometimes forget that the world
Isn’t privy to my inner dialogue;
If the world could hear my thoughts,
it would get lost, buried,
Who Am I?
I'm the guy that's up at night, too busy staring in the sky.
Brought up in the country state of Texas, But I guess I'm not real because I'm not that reckless.
I never had a filter
Because I am no drifter
Society wants us to believe
That we need a filter to deceive
And furthermore achieve
But I don’t need a filter
Just like I don’t need a mister
If I just stood there,
Would you see me
In all my brokenness and beauty?
Would you see
My struggles and troubles
And a past that's stamped with a seal of pain?
Would you see
Here, I stand.
Here, I stare
Like a beggar yearning for a meal.
Incessant cycles of foolish decisions,
My mind agrees to no longer empower
My regression.
Finally, I decide to fight for and steer
“Oh, and please leave room for cream”
I smile and tell the minimum-wage-earning teen behind the counter that he can keep the change.
He thanks me and I think it might have been his first tip today.
With no filter, my face is pretty average,
My voice and hair are nothing to salvage.
I’m quiet and shy when around the unknown,
My soul and color and pride aren’t shown.
When I’m near the ones I care for most,
I am not who I wasI am not who I'll beBut as for who I amI can say that I'm meI'm blunt but I'm lovingI'm scarred but still standingAnd I've felt my share of painI've made it this far
One look at me and what do you see?
A high school senior just skating by?
The captain of the cheer squad with her pony tail up high?
Do you see the supportive sister of two young soccer players?
To you,
I am just a pale face
Tired and exhausted
I lack something that you want.
And to you,
That is perfection.
I am more than just this filter
Of beauty so fake.
I am a person.
Some may think I'm happy and fun, carefree and patient although I'm none.
The guy with the oh so perfect world, school, the family, and the girl.
But underneath that smooth exterior, lies a broken man growing wearier.
I am from the screams of the silent
Who has fantasies of living lavish
But too poor to buy it.
I am from the slow beats of a drum
Thump...thump...thump.
I am from the unknown
Sometimes I feel that people overestimate me
In projects and assignment
Both inside and out of class.
Thinking that I've got their backs
And everything perfectly planned
But I am just as lost as they are.
"They" say the first love is the sweetest. But why is that so? Well as "they" say, "you reap what you sow." "They" say love is blind. But what does that show?
How can you ask for no filters?
Do you think look I fake with filters?
Well yes, I do.
That's the point.
This face, this hair, this body that was deemed perfect from my genes,
It's truly a strange thing, when we're told
not to listen to beauty standards, to live comfortably as we are, to "be yourself",
and then are thrown a fistful of
I am an anomaly.
A flying rocket ship.
When times are getting tough
i shy away from my relationship.
I am afraid of being alone,
yet i crave the silence.
When I am told what to do,
It is in my deepest mind can I say this.
What does the world care?
we talk about change, but all we have is words
words to fight
words to survive
words to love
Insecurity tends to pulse
Through people's veins.
The image of perfection
Contiues to flash through their minds,
Like a broken record playing.
They stalk their minds and emotions
The girl who knows more about you than you'll ever know about her,
But she'll let you in... Just for a little while,
So here I go,
I can't stay focused for more than five minutes on something uninteresting,
Hate is a good thing,
When it comes to bad things,
But hate is for the next generation.
When they look up to rap kings
Who promote bad things, gold bling, and diamond rings.
Let’s get something straight
I’m prettier than you
You’re not prettier than me
And that’s how it’s always going to be
Insert Hair Flip Here
Oh I mean {Hair-flip}
You don’t like that?
They want to know the real her
But I don't know the person myself
We can start slow
Like waking up on a Saturday
By describing her as a light
She radiates life and brings warmth everywhere she goes
The young boy was so quick to pick up a gun but never a
book
the young girls so eagered to twerk something but never
to desire to learn something
they wonder why they never earn nothing like respect
"You're white, you're a girl, your life is easy."
On the outside looking in, I suppose:
I am white, I am a girl.
I come from a white family
Born into happiness and health.
Raised with respect and manners.
A wise man once said,
"If we could physically base peoples apperances off of ones personality today, who would we consider beautiful?"
I would argue that our perception would stay
exactly the same
I walk along the sidewalk
Putting on a smile for all to see
A skip in my step
My words a melody.
A filter.
Inside is dark.
Lonely.
My eyes glimmer
My heart is dimmer.
They say you always know which kids have no dad
You know the ones always starting something, doing bad,
roaming streets, making trouble, proving the stats right.
Now Uncle Sam trying to keep them in his sight
Rhyme is my gift because it comes to me swift and when I speak my words you will feel a drift..
I'm not cold at least not in front and if you pass me a blunt I'll send it straight with a punt.
Underneath I have a dirty heart
You all will fail, so I can win
I am not clean and cut like my selfies
But I am rough and tough like so many
I do not really care about you
So what if I lie and say that I do?
Stripping away,
Exposing pieces that no one sees.
Who am I?
Who was I?
Who will I be?
Take away the filters,
The makeup,
The clothes that everyone sees.
Reflect within and see myself,
The camera goes down, and there's the frown
Fears rushing from beneath, tears gushing from my eyes to the tip of my reach
Ruddy, thats what they call my complexion
A mix of pure white and dots
I am calico
The contours of my body are softly proportioned
a little extra here and there but I am muscled
I am strong
Hi, my name is 'Trying'
My name is, am I good enough?
They call me generic
Bland, I could be a flake in your cereal
Voted best sense of humor, I'm not funny
Chose to sit alone in elementary school cafeteria
Down every street,
On every wall,
In every room,
Are windows, mirriors, puddles, and reflection.
I march right by without a look but, sometimes I cant...
Sometimes it pulls me,
Calls to me,
You were always there for me,
Even with a damaged knee.
Sam and I looked up to you,
You never had a clue.
You carried your struggles
As if they were light like bubbles.
And so it wastr, it was me standing in this mirror.
Light skin,
Brown eyes,
You know the same old thing.
Light pink full lips that naturally pout.
My lashes are long,
My freakles splattered.
Knowing this chapter could have ended is
the most difficult thing to grasp.
When you find that person, your life partner,
that special someone, it won't be easy.
Because that person is worth the fights and
Okay,
Honest hour…
The purest form of me
Is something that even I don’t get to see.
The lonely, fragile yet caring heart
hides behind The ruthless part
Amaro
Rise
Valencia
Umm, Saturation let's make it 10
Warmth 41, there done.
#NoFilter #AllNatural
But how is it that we go ahead and fidget with the icons on instagram
The Authentic Me
by Hunter E Jones
Does the selfie define me?
Am I worthy? Am I pretty?
With you, I finally felt loved. Your lips were softer than butter, kisses so soft, sweeter than the sweetest honey.
"How could you say that, my ego is demolished"
I have never apologized for just being honest
There are way too many people
Who lie to their friends to make them feel better
I am a nerd.
A textbook nerd.
Glasses, braces, acne, freckles, a giant graphing calculator,
(It actually clips to my belt)
I play DnD in a basement.
I remember my father crying
When it was time for me to leave—
For me to learn to kill
At only eighteen.
To load, shoot, reload,
Until it was mechanical,
I no longer had to think.
My filter protects my sight,
It covers the world for me.
I use it to show what I wish to be;
A more perfect, flawless version of me.
I strip away the smile:
That straight-toothed, polite smile
There are those same brown eyes that stare back at me in the mirror every day
Happy? I don’t know, but I could fool anyone
I sometimes stand emotionless and empty inside, but appear complete on the outside
Behind the glitz and the glam,
Is just a face.
That is something,
You cannot erase.
Covered by things,
That are not you.
Once they are removed,
You are true.
It took eighteen years to realize I didn't need anyone's approval
That my appearance had nothing to do with my personality
That I didn't need to edit my photos because I am perfectly fine with the way I've grown
She stares back at me with her brown squinty eyes,
her lopsided brows raised in apprehension.
She raises her palm and her delicate finger taps the surface.
"I know," she says.
My eyes glaze over.
I wear drugstore makeup,
walmart clothes,
hand-me-downs and
shoes with holes.
Neither poor nor rich,
happy nor sad.
I am not right nor left,
but forever in between.
Pretending is more challenging
Then accepting reality.
So why pretend?
Why keep up the act?
I don’t.
Simplicity is a desire
This is me
Half Black
Half White
In a society that doesn't take that into account
A society that sees me and assumes
I am fully Black
Which is not bad
To truly unlace me,
Without the fuzzy filter
Is to find a girl who constantly wants more from herself.
She has so many goals,
All of which will benefit those around her,
Home
I lived in the middle of a dead end block
with two enormous random pine trees planted in my lawn
Gi...
Gillani.
Homes?
For sale.
My house!
I went to a new school
Where they were all different.
They were not the heard of sheep I had come to know
Under the make- up. Beneath the filter.Behind the forced smiles.
Is a girl.A girl who’s not so sure of herself.A girl who loves to make
Who am I?
A doctor, writer, or biologist
A musician, detective, or radiologist
Who am I?
A dancer, veterinarian , or accountant
A teacher, athlete, or consultant
Who am I?
Excuse me,
But i'm just tryna get your attention
from this world of mixed dimensions
And worthless misconceptions
engulfing the perceptions
that I am not beautiful
You see,
Without filter we can see
We can see into the depths of our souls
Our hopes, dreams, and aspirations
Laid bare in their natural beauty
Born and raised in the house of God,
where the family gathers to worship;
Laying on the couch playing COD,
when bed makes me abandon ship.
Playing on the diamond with a stick in my hand,
There's a war inside my head and it just won't stop. I was told the biggest battle is the one in your head.
I was always good at faking a smile.
I pretended I was strong.
I kept this up for quite a while,
But it just felt so wrong.
Because on the inside I was breaking.
I was a captive to regret and shame.
Slice.
Through to reality, don't hold back, don't lie to me,
I am not defined by the ribbon on top, not made by the sparkles we add,
the flavor we infuse,
I am Me.
Rebecca Harris
No Filter Scholarship Slam
13 February 2015
Buried Treasure
If the world chose who I would be
True.
What is true?
The truth can be messy. Embarrassing. Disappointing. Shameful.
Sometimes the lie is just a hat. Just covering a little.
Other times the lie is a locked door. Always hiding, never opening.
Nerd.
The word resounds around my head like a hammer on a bell.
Smartass
The word clatters like a grain of rice in a rain stick.
Geek
The word rolls off my tongue like a new morning kiss.
Every day is a gift,
all the days just flow so swift
try to live positive & for others try to uplift...
<3
You are here for a reason bigger than you
I know some time you wonder what am I here to do?
Is it some thing huge & grand, here...
When I was younger, I wanted to be an artist.I wanted to be like my sister who made her room her own personal museum of art,complete with a shooting star as her cieling and a 9 by 12 beach to keep her warm, even in winter.
I am broken.
Into microscopic pieces.
Pieces that are too small to find and put back together.
They are fragile.
Do not touch them, for they will break.
Let them heal by themselves.
If even possible.
Honestly, I am me.
Many words have been used to decribe who I am;
Dancer. Cheerleader. Student. Daughter.
Some of the common ones.
But not the only ones I have heard.
Always alone but surrounded, reminded of ties and bounded
Can't hear what they're sayin', continue to keep on prayin'
Faith remains my soul will lead me, to what I'm supposed to be
I look to the sky for a dream, the stars seem to yell surrender. My generation has lost its roots, our world is yelling timber.
I am a girl of a deceased dad,
I am a girl of divorced parents,
I am a who who wears makeup to hide the tears,
I am a girl who has a filter to hide the pain.
I am a girl without a filter,
I have myself a best friend
A friend that's clearer than a crystal
and sees through me like celophane
An unstoppable force passing through that immovable object
I love them. They make me be who I am.
It was just within that moment in which I had taken a mere reflection of myself.
A true reflection in which no other could see, unless filtered into perfection.
I am a pure, white flower, blooming from fine, fertile land.
They stripped us of our self awareness
Our sense of pride
Our sense of knowing
Our sense of belonging.
They've had power in our mental minds
And shall I remind you
Heart stopping, ears begging for more
I play the strings like a mother
Stroking a childs head.
Softly, whisper the made up lyrics
that escape my heart.
I pick up the pencil
lines crossing like
I am a woman who can do it all
Even though I am so small
I have so much potential because I know most of the essentials
I wanted them to see me as art
to stand in awe and marvel
at the thought that such beauty existed
but i am not a monet
i am not a picasso
and as they realized that
Come up with a poem of you, they say.
Who are you? What should we know?
To begin with -- I am a simply intricate girl of 18,
with the future on my mind
and a reminiscent heart.
My soul resides at home,
I spend many years waiting for that person to treat me like a princess. I did not commit in the past because I knew deep down in my heart neither person was truly ready for the commitment of my heart.
16 May 2014
All I want is to be remembered.
I want to be in your best memories,
Or maybe even your worst.
It doesn’t matter what kind, but remember me for something.
18 Feb 2014
I sit here in class,
thinking about your past,
my past. Relationships
are difficult and so
are my thoughts. Too much for you?
I questions your questions
Behind The Pictures
These pictures show you the outside of me
They dont show you how
This smile can be gone in the matter of 10 seconds
Maybe if society wasn't so hard now
Under these heavily shadowed eyelids are green eyes that cry a lot
Under her curled hair is a mind that overthinks things, with constant anxious thoughts
Under this lipstick is a smile that is curved to hide the pain
What defines me cannot be found in a dictionary
Flipping the pages until you reach the J's then filling in the blanks -o, -e, -y,
Does not mean a word sentence definition is the sum of all my parts
i am the one they call strange
annoying
weird
different
i am the girl who is ignored
unwanted
unneeded
i am the one who doesnt grow up
i probably never will
Every day I accent the same flawless imperfections of my own personal style
A ten-dollar ring from a gift shop in Gulf Shores
A black leather, metal studded bracelet from the same shop
I am myself
With no filter.
Playing music as loud as it can go,
Dancing in my room,
Signing at the top of my lungs,
With no filter.
Glasses on,
Sweatpants keepng me warm,
I think far too often
There's no room for all of it in my bone skull
Some get pushed out into words
Mostly the shallow, people pleasing, floating on the surface things that human conversation lives off of
It is the way each gear ran perfectly,
The way the ticks lined up.
It was how the metal clashed with me,
It couldn’t get enough.
Let’s fall,
Let’s rise,
Then stall,
Then surprise.
Fucking up is just a habit of mine.
But it's my life and not for you to decide.
Because in the end we all just die.
But I don't want live to die.
I want to live to live.
That's the meaning of being alive.
Everything looks so much different in black and white. You can't see all of the colors that are around. You also can't see the pain in a picture, you can't even see the happiness in a black and white colored picture.
I am a series of syllables,
Thrown together with whimsy and chance.
I am a sea of endless thoughts with waves so large they threaten to pull me under and drown me.
I am not a daughter.
I am a third parent.
I am not a student.
I am a never ending question.
I am not an employee.
I am an asset.
I am not what I appear to be.
A filter is like a mask, a mask is like a disguise, I disguise my feelings and self but why?
The real me isnt pictures you see online
Or even sometimes outside.
The real me is deep down
Wondering if its okay to be herself or hide.
The real me isnt a staright A student
But doesnt mean Im not smart.
I am facing
the silver screen,
my virtual
reflection
refusing to
look at me.
The screen turns black
and all I see
are my blank eyes
as they wait
wait to watch
I have always wished for something more
a little hope,
a little love,
a little bit of something.
But now I sit by myself
wishing for nothing.
Darkeness surrounds me
Rarely do I see stretch marks, bruises, and scars in the media
The absence of flaws on models and celebrities is extremely concerning
It implies that imperfections are a shameful appearance
If you take away the filter
The hashtags, the signs
I’m left bereft of options
And put simply, there am I
Half-hidden in the sun
But avoiding the glare
You take my picture neck up
To my Older Self,
Remember when you wanted to be included in the adult conversations?
You used to walk dejectedly back to the kids’ corner,
only half-listening to the arguments there.
These filters
This lighting
"No no no, wait that one wasn't good
Let's take another"
We're all so worried about looking good all the time
Lost Like A Grain Of Salt In A Sandstorm.
Living Life Without Proper Purpose.
Staring Into A Reflection And Seeing The Unknown.
When the phone is down and the filters are off is when you see the real me. The real me is a person with Flaws that can only be highlighted by my own self-doubt. With my filter on my real presence is esoteric, flew see what i am really made of.
Behind the filter is a girl
A girl who has been through the hells of growing up
Behind the filter is insecurities
Insecurities the girl doesn't allow to define her
Behind the filter is compassion
There's a coursing river coming right at you
no dams or cares that's a fact.
But I hope you know something,
this honesty isn't fantasy.
I'm not a funny page,
I'm imbuing knowledge
I am who I am no excuses.
My outer cannot my inner make.
Take away my sprinkles
Colorful and cute in design
I am still a cupcake
Sweet and rich and divine and wholesome to my core
Every day I put a mask on my face.
I pick out my flaws and try to erase
The "imperfections" our society has set.
Impossible standards that have yet to be met.
So who am I behind the mask?
I am not a book meant to be read or researched
Searching is meant for those who are looking
To be liked for something I'm not is not being liked at all
Who is this guy?
I have a vague recollection of his existence,
Seems like he came back with a vengeance,
This guy just told me he took more than a small step forward, but he got his legs shot off,
Soft wavy hair heated pin straight
Creamy paint smoothed on marked skin
Sharp black lines and white powder
Societal mirror reflected gold
Take sponge and soap and warm water
Scrubbing soul and body
I cry a lot, don't you?
I trust people too easily
I'm trusting you.
I forget things a lot, don't you?
I lie to people too easily
I'm not lying to you.
Birth of new born killers
high end thrillers
sparse chances, taken with unease
beans and peas,
mark disease and
players can't see me
'cause I was never on a team
in the first dream, I ever had
Words without reproof, naked and ashamed,
Unheard, but reached by hundreds; they’re my words spoken.
But I am the king of the Jungle! A lion untamed.
My power lies within the boundaries I have proclaimed
Who am I beneath a social filter?
I'm not Ludwig, Lo-Fi or black and white
But pale and blue eyed with a crooked smile
Chewed nails, dead ends, frail arms and bad posture.
Who am I beneath a social filter?
Energy, Great, Cute
Why do I need a filter?
Fun, Sarcastic, Sweet
Why do I need to be fake?
Nice, Helpful, Talented?
I don't need a filter to live.
Instagram. Facebook. Twitter. Snapchat.Your connection to the rest of the worldYou take a photoYou want to share itBut first you have to “fix” it
A filter
Nothing but a misconstrued version of normal light
Changing context from wrong to right
Take away this glass magnifying falsehoods and repressing flaws
I look and the mirror and what do i see?
It's flawed face and it's staring back at me
I add a little eyeliner, a little mascara too
Maybe a dab of concealer
Will that do?
I feel unnoticed
The girl who stares at her feet while she walks the halls
The one trying to get through another day just like you
I know all of your names
but do you know mine?
why would you need to anyway?
I smile in hope they will stop staring.
I smile in hope that they will see the beauty I see when I look in the mirror.
I smile in hope to make someone's day.
Blood as red as a rose
They said death was something that you just chose
Truthfully it chose you
I wake up to the sun rays filtering through my bamboo screens.
I pause,
drenched in the warm honey glow of an almost summer morning.
I crawl, scramble in a generally awkward fashion,
behind the makeup and smile as big as her heart there is a girl
she is living in constant fear of the future
her biggest fear is failing
she feels helpless
but she has to try
I’m not like the people you see on the streets,
I’m not like the people you read about or see on television,
I try so hard to be different because of my stereotype,
I’m just like your friends,
This uncontrolable jelousy
Builds up deep inside of me
people say they're jealous of me
they keep telling me
that im handsome enough to be in magazines
and that i speak so confidently
Everyday I wake up,
I think to myself about absolutely nothing,
From the earliest hours where the sun hasn't even shown a ray,
I rise thinking about absolutely nothing.
That peace I get from nothing,
At 5"1 I like to say
My height is classified.
That's why I like social media
All those "flaws" you can hide.
If you were to ask about the real me,
I'd roll my my brown eyes and shake my tiny head,
You are the waves of the ocean,
Unapologetically crashing to the shore,
Then seeping back out to the sea,
To rise and fall unyieldingly.
You are the trees in the forest,
Radiant and confident,
Who am I?
during those late nights,
where I have no one to impress,
where I don't have to watch what I say,
where I can expess myself freely,
where I have no filter.
I don't have to get all dresed up,
Eyeliner, masacara, eyeshadow,
Concealer, foundation;
All to take me away from me.
Which filter to choose?
How to cover up myself?
Maybe people will like me now.
A mere whisper whose mind is as loud as roaring thunder
whose thoughts are jumbled with black and white, no grey,
has big dreams that knows she should be afraid of but is ready to conquer them, that is I.
I have to dress this way.I just have to; I do.All of the pretty girls wear this make up anyway.So I will start to, too.
Remove the filters that surround our lives.
Don't sugarcoat it
to the ones outside.
The world as we know it can be harsh and cruel,
so let's not pretend
that it always looks cool.
If I feel like you don't love me
You should know that is a problem
Understand what I'm saying
A filter is used to hide the parts of us we don't like and enhance the parts we do.
But why do we not "like" parts of ourselves?
Society is always telling us to "be ourselves" and "color outside the lines,"
I am a world traveler filled with interesting foods,
Amazing memories, fun people, and beautiful pictures,
I love coffee, tequila, and meeting new people,
I am confident, I am smart, I am happy
She looks in the mirror
Dead in the eyes
Looking at someone
She no longer knows
She grabs her paint brush
And starts to work on her canvas
Liner.
Mascara.
Powder.
Lipstick.
The path I’ve taken is much less traveled,
I didn’t choose the path I took,
For my journey was far from easy.
But the more I think and the harder I look,
The better I see how my life was unraveled.
Perfection.
Is the definition of perfection perfect?
Who could really define perfection?
If someone added a picture to it, who would it be?
Certainly not me.
I would be plastered in the antonym section as
Let's face it, reality is pretty boring, several hours of brain torturing; grades, test, and jobs only create worrying; what is all this that we spend our time juggling?
The harmless freckles that cover my face,
The numerous scars on my cheeks and my waist,
The extra skin that exists on my thighs,
The obvious bags that surround my tired eyes,
The size of my large and annoying ears,
The harmless freckles that cover my face,
The numerous scars on my cheeks and my waist,
The extra skin that exists on my thighs,
The obvious bags that surround my tired eyes,
The size of my large and annoying ears,
I am beautiful
See the pools of dark brown soil
with hints of gold that reach for the light
those are my eyes
I am beautiful
See the skin that glows
when I smile so vibrantly
Can we enter 2015 with no filter? With so many filters and mask, I sometimes hate to ask what's real or what's fake. What would it take?
In the cold and gray comfort of the morning
I stare at the skyline above my city.
6:14am
A cool colorless light seeps into the sky
Brightening the dullness.
Humanity leads to failure
I lead to humanity
Am I a failure?
Do I prove myself a white picket fence future?
Am I entitled to eveyone elses opinions?
Can you see right through me?
I am flawless from my head to my toes
No clothes or filters can better what’s already gold
I shine so bright and I don't need to be told
For its my beauty within, that makes me so bold
my face lies bare of foundation, exposing my imperfect skin tones
my eyebrows reflect of asymmetry, craving for a proper wax
my lips require a fuchsia lipstick, whispering gossip of insecurity
He chose how the world viewed himHe was social and lively exclaimed the pictures on the dresser;A great athlete, sung the awards on the walls,But he wasn't content, stated the moist tissues covered by the soft blankets.
Some say truth lies within a reflection of ourselves
behind the mirror
beyond the filters of filters we know
and all we try to fight against
my mirror stands before me
Can I even recognize myself in full color?
The black and white and different hues are gone, and its like no other.
There is a girl sitting in this picture.
No make-up, no fashion tops, and not a speck of glitter.
I use filters every day of my life
I'm not just talking about stupid ass picture filters
Yes,
I use filters on almost every picture I post on social media
If it makes me feel better about myself then why not?
How messed up is that sentence?
Quick take a picture
What can we see?
An everlasting flawess flitered picture of me
Hair done
Skin soft
Eyebrows on fleek
Eyes tipped
Black dip, winged tip on me
Pointed nose , wrinkly clothes would ...you impose ? Smile off white pointed towards the light that looks just right . Gleemy eyes blue of sea , there is a pimple can't you see? Frickle here frickle there , can some move my hair ?
Can you imagine this world that wakes up right before our eyes
The trees shake, the sun shines, and the grass never dies
You wonder who I am deep down inside,
Down past the emotions i tend to hide?
That is a question with split answers
For I am made from two seperate cultures
My ancestors from two diffferent places
It has become increasingly simple
To build a mask for ourselves,
To pick and choose the best parts of our lives
And put them on display
As if our souls were on sale.
We sell our bodies to the screens
Since last Thursday night,
my three year old man has
Disappeared into the clutch of
Time.
My three year old man can do so
Much more than I thought he could.
He plays the keys with more
I am an Individual
Everything about me is my own
Nothing less than a miracle
I am an open book, so let it be known
As a little boy, my mother always said I was up to no good, jumping on furniture, or running along pool sides.
#labelme
#figureme
#guess
Who am I?
Title me
Give me your dish
Tell me who I am
Tell me who you see
Covered book
Hidden book
Story full of pix
#white
#female
When we first met I was nothing but an empty landscape.
You made me laugh so deeply that I cried,
and the tears watered a lost garden in my body.
I do my best to be happy
I try not to snap
but I've loved so much
and been loved so little
Its hard to trust
when you're split down the middle.
A heart broken so much
The pieces so little
What do I believe in?
Every sunday, as a little Jay
I'd go to church to sing and pray
In the back of sunday service I'd stay and play
But as years came I began to sway
No longer did I feel blessed
Various shades of colors
Black
White
Tan
All so equally beautiful
Yet there is people who dare judge
People so full of anger and a hallowing emptiness
Raise your voices
Who am I?
I am a hybird
A warrior who wants to defeat
An underdog who cannot defeat
Why is this who I am?
I am experienced
My fingers lace through
The yellow bag straps.
Playfully, I tilt my head to the left.
A smirk on my face.
A picture tells a thousands words,
but can you read the emotions behind each smile?
Can you hear the hardships that their eyes express?
My wide bright eyes that seem to shine like the sun turn to dark clouds of gray.
gems. they sparkle with the light of a thousand glimmering galaxies
As a kid I danced on the livingroom carpet. The beat filled me inside and made me feel alive. The frenzy growing and hungry and ready to explode in a rhythmic symphony of movement.
Love finally found me, alone in my room, despair had eclipsed this old heart like the moon, covering the Sun and blinding my eyes, I called out to God and He heard my cries, I still feel the pangs of being alone, left here to suffer my mind is st
Hashtag “no filter”
Hashtag “no edit”
Dear valencia and sierra
I owe you the credit
Blurry pictures
Red eyes
And blemishes galore
Dislike, mean comment, take it down Good Lord!
It doesn't do a lot of talking
But for something that doesn't speak
It sure says a lot of words.
Sometimes, the camera can be this
Light that shines on positvity
And lets the creative and vibrant vibe come
I have never really had a filter.
Not a literal one, however.
In a world full of cover ups and blind dates, I stand alone.
Flay the skin away
Piece by piece
Layer after layer
What am I now?
Am I
The words tumbling out of my mouth
The thoughts rolling in my head
The despair deep in my heart
Highly underrated
Highly anticipated
Got one goal that is being the greatest
Prove doubters wrong when I make it
Been plotting this moment since my momma was pregnant
My heart feels heavy, not heavy enough for me not to be able to carry, just heavy enough for me to feel weary, it’s so scary, I’m near January.
I just want the me I was before I knew what it was like to have to live each living day without you, it's been such a long time since I've seen me and I miss me
I would like to think that my body and my face were created specifically for me.
Looking into the mirror, society stares back.
Watching my every move, analyzing every inch.
Bite my tongue and hold my words back;
smile with closed lips.
Constrictions; you cannot wear that.
Can you hear the sound of the world calling your name?
Can you hear your heart talking to your brain to make sure you are awake?
Can you hear your name being called repeatedly by those around you?
Cause I can't
I’m hecking emotionally aloof
Somebody tells me they love me
So I tell them ‘thanks’.
But like really I’m pretty clingy
I need attention 24/7
But from my close group of friends.
AND GUESS WHAT WORLD!
I am …..
Broken.
By the strong reigns that peer pressure pulls towards me.
Constantly fighting the battle of not being lonely
No real father in my life honestly it’s not by choice
As tears fall down my cheek erasing my make-up stained skin,
My finger clicks "delete" that forces the last of my inferior selfies down a cyber bin.
I'm not a writer I'm a canvas filler, but regardless i was always scared of my filter. Restricting me from things that could of been, now just a constant repeat of regret within.
I turned off the filter you happy now?
That I look like a mangled, deranged ugly cow?
No. Dig Deeper. See what I see.
A volcano range of red hot pimples?
Oversized white girl dimples?
You are safe, she whispered softly
stroking the crest of my cheek with her thumb and I could feel
the ridges of her identity in the tips of her fingers
like I could feel the water wrap around my body
Filters gone, now you see my true beauty,
its not on the outside, but within.
Within I am clean, I am whole, I am not
artificial.
Without filters, I am me.
No filter
Well, I am pretty pale, and my teeth aren't that white.
No filter
But my smile does radiate, and my skin shows that life does have a bite.
No filter
Seeing things with a different light
Looking in the mirror and shaking my head… no
I feel the need to dislike the reflection I see
Too point out my wobbly knees my unpainted toes
"Who is this? Nigga on IG, always on posting pics.
Never get the chicks.
Always with the shits.
Man that nigga lame.
I blow more L’s and got way more change”
I am a prodigal son
Though my chromosomes read double X's
Despite what my sex is, I am still prodigal
Not in the sense of wasting dollar bills on gambling teams
Or quarters on slot machines
I'm not that perfect valencia skin beauty
I'm that beauty that can be a pizza face
I'm not that small forehead lucky individual
I'm that five forehead cutie
Is it okay?
Is it okay?
She had sadness in her eyes
Everyday of her life,
And no one knew why.
They didn't know
The memories that haunted her
Each and every day
Of her short life.
How am I with no filter? I wake up every morning two hours before school begins to filter myself.
Many different people like lots of different things.
Some like fame or TV
Others like rain when it goes
drip
drip
drop
down on your window.
But me?
I love words.
As life continues I only know of two people who really exist; Kris & KP.
As I enjoy the limelight of being a versity athlete, I still find discomfort within.
Why does everything have to be based off a tragedy.
Is it not advantageous enough to just have a beneficial life anymore.
Spots, Scars, and stripes
Blemishes, freckles, and insecurities,
This is me.
I roll out of bed, brush my teeth,
This is me.
I cannot see YOU under that beige tar and black crayon.
Rooms are quiet places when there's nobody inside them.
A lot of times I think that the silence is caused by the awkwardness between the invisible, humiliating thoughts that people have left behind: casual glances running up stockings
I wake up everyday trying to be #flawless
The lipstick, the blush, the eyebrows on #fleek
I am Lauren kelly
I am 17 years old
I'm an alcoholic and an addict
I do not know when I will go home
I have craving and I shake
my life is unmanageable
I promised myself that I would never change
Post-camera angling, perfecting our facial expressions, we hold our breath as we click the button that supposedly captures the real you--
However in today’s society, seizes the artificial.
Words come easy, but people are the problem.
Typing for hours without a single sound.
Looking for an escape.
A new world.
Looking to tell a story no one has heard before.
Listen close because you my find
I walk into the bathroom i turn my head as my eyes interlock with the me within, I SEE
With you
People in my generation are odd.
We all seem to think we need filters.
On our pictures,
On our life,
On what people see about us,
But not on the words we use.
I have no filter.
You stole my innocence.
My childhood.
My happiness.
You took everything from me,
And you don't even remember.
I was just another girl,
Another thrill.
Today I take back my life.
Focused for the day and the Grade A letters to be exchanged
Letters we all focus on that will define for the rest of our lives
Deadbeat number one. You walked out of my life before I even got to learn what your skin smelt like.I'm sure if I dug way back in my locked away, too young to remember,
When time dawned first for me
A cry tore from blameless lips
Unbeknownst to I, naïve
That nothing pure remains
Indeed, the world blew through my lungs
Such earthly wisdom I inhaled
The photo taking business changed with a filter.
The way that men, women, children, and teens could look at themselves changed.
A new desire to impress and maybe look a little more tan.
I’m no Cinderella
Never lost a glass slipper
Never got prince charming
I’m no Cinderella
Always felt strange
Faraway
Slipping away
Always felt strange
I am afraid of the future
And the mistakes that are yet to be made
I know I'm not perfect, and sometimes that scares me.
I am afriad of disapointing my parents,
By not being the person they raised me to be.
I'm about to write this poem,
but first let me take a sefie.
Ducklips Filters and angles
Fresh out the shower
Kinky curls so soft and bouncy
Flowing everywhere as it dries
Creating a giant afro of curls
I look in the mirror and lather on lotion
I get dressed and grab my phone
I am a drop of sunshine in a doubt of uncertainirty.I am a comforting voice in a crowd of chaos.You have a hard time following me? Try harder, because I lead out.
Raped by the words of my brothers and sisters.
Their eyes watch as I fall.
But I will be the one laughing,
As I rise higher than they ever could.
Constantly worrying about others’ needs.
What about me?
Standing straight up with a
Glowing smile. Eyes wide open,
Seeking the light that shines through
Every negative remark made toward me.
“Too skinny!”
“Eat a sandwich!”
Oh, but I do eat.
Taking a picture day in and day out little imperfections
Quickly to be corrected hide the true beauty waiting to be discovered
My soul reaches out for comfort, contentment even.
I bask in the ways they teach me, the ways they want me to learn, to memorize.
What to wear, how to look, what to feel.
I begin to feel routine, I'm comfortable.
Disaster is written in the scars that are made from a blade.
Dark circles suffocate the light inside me, and create a darkness that doesn't fade.
Imperfections party hard with their dance along my sensitive winter skin.
One alone cannot lead.
One alone cannot love.
One alone cannot learn.
One alone cannot learn.
One alone cannot laugh.
One alone cannot live the life intended.
I try to control myself
But the temptations are hard
My thoughts are to strong
My mind is long gone
I try to control myself
But not when everyones there
My eyes see all wrong
I didn't grow up in a home,
I grew up in houses,
13 schools and a murder attempt and "Run as fast as you can, find the neighbor, and stay there till I call the police!"
My mom's ex-boyfriend,
I am me, myself, and I
I am a man who likes to say hi not goodbye
I am afraid of the day I will die
But I'm also afraid of not living life
I shine bright like the stars in the night sky
Nature is a mystery,
but I am unique.
The world spins around in an orbit,
but my head spins through imagination of wild stories.
Out of boredom, the weather becomes a hectic storm,
No filter = no likes.
No filter is like going on a date,
without breaking the ice.
(Which is a habit of mine)
No filter is #Fresh Friday
and no #Makeup Monday.
No filter is usually me.
My poetry is like a dusty dictionary
(Let me explain my origins and my complications in a way no one wants to understand)
Let me use crappy similes to show you how I cope,
using humor and understatements.
I step out the door.
Then step back in.
I check the mirror.
Okay, I look thin.
I step back out.
The world is colorful
Our perception is often not
Instead of the rainbow
We live in black and white thought
We catogorize, we generalize--we label each other's lives
With our preset misconceptions
I am so terribly,
deathly, afraid,
of what when unfiltered
my mouth should say.
Do I speak such terrible truths…
of honest opinions of wistful youths?
Or do I lay upon such speech
A shot to impress, a meaningless stroke; what we once treasured great, we no longer invoke.
ι αм α ѕтяσиg уσυиg ωσмαи.
ρυт тняσυgн ѕσ мαиу σвѕтα¢ℓєѕ αи∂ ¢нαℓℓєиgєѕ вυт ѕтιℓℓ ι ѕтαи∂ тαℓℓ ωιтн му нєα∂ нєℓ∂ нιgн.
єνєи ωнєи тєαяѕ яσℓℓ ∂σωи му fα¢є, ι ραιит α ѕмιℓє σνєя ιт.
ι αм тнє ρяσтαgσиιѕт σf му ѕтσяу.
Everyday i wake up walking down long hallways
its a place in my head i fly to escape
maybe I'm an activist but i cant add this
list of reasons why i cant breathe
my future haunt me
my past torture me
Make-up. Make-up.
Make up. Make. up.
You are making yourself up.
What is that?
Expression?
Self awareness?
Beauty?
Faking someone out?
Nobody needs that.
I am Kenna
In every sense of the word
I am inside jokes
and finger pricks
and two a.m. cheezit cravings
and study hall naps
and tear stains on a pillow case
and stretch marks
I was born to put words on paper and make the world a better place because of it.
The amount of knowledge I have yet to learn is intimidating, but the idea of learning exhilarating.
I'm addicted to beauty,
Addicted to destruction.
I'm addicted to pieces and broken things
Because I'm trying to find my "whole".
I'm addicted to the sunrise,
And to the moonrise,
Without filter, I am free
without camera, I am me
I am everything that is exactly who I'd like to be
Without selfie, I am self
A wonder in and of itself
inauthenticity is a fad.a trend founded on insecurity.add a filteruse photoshophide your flawsdon’t let themsee.
Today we are consumed by technology,
Consumed by how society views us,
Consumed by tweets, status updates, and selfies,
As life quickly passes by,
The tears burn as they run down my cheeks,
And slide down to my shirt.
Sleep has hidden itself for weeks
While I ask, "when will He end this hurt?"
I try so hard to smile
Behind these eyes of mine is a person, just an ordinary person who always feels she never fits in.She takes pictures and finds uplifting quotes to put on her pictures so she can look at them and think she is beautiful.
Black is the color that describe my past
And the color of who I am
But what black is not
Is also who I am
Bright, with a mind that think right
With different shades that show my true might
the true reflection in the mirror
trying to fit in
the real you
over thinking simple flaws
it's okay not to be perfect
just be true
no matter what others pound into your head
I
Hair too messy, skin too pale
Greying eyes that no sleep could evade
Without the filter I see what others cannot
What I refuse to show, because I am afraid of me
I am here to undo my mistakes.
To let you enter my world
Since I made the mistake of leaving you out.
My life is not the easiest
But it's not the hardest one either.
I have a life where I can do what I want
I never really understood why
Instagrammers hashtag
#NoFilter
As if it were some kind of excuse
To say “Hey! If you think I’m ugly, it’s because I have
#Nofilter.”
I find it rather unnecessary to
Searching on social media you will not find me
I'm too busy practicing all the right degrees
The filters hide my fears and flaws
Your half naked pictures should be outlawed
Erasing the impurities from my flesh
Flaws and all I will continue to stand tall, because after all... I am beautifully flawed.
When I look into the mirror , I see smooth brown skin , sharp eyes, a button nose
What is beauty?
What is beautiful?
Depends on what you see
Someone youthful?
Though pictures are less than truthful
Cameras are off kilter
Making perfection doable
With layers of filter
Slammed into lockers,
pushed into walls.
This life just wont stop hurting.
When I am all alone,
I can see the world,
for what it truly is.
I walk alone on the edge of the road,
There's a perfect image I've always had of myself,
one not even a filter could create
One that's so perfect just me being me
Letting the world seeing me in my natural state
It's always seemed to get me further.
Without black eyeliner and pink lipstick,
See just before fire was sent to the rain
Before I even saw a glimpse of the pain
Before the arrow was shot through my heart
Before peoples' words could tear me apart
There was hope! Yes, little but there was Hope
As a little girl your momma always tells you
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
That beauty isn"t only skin deep
That young girls don't need make up and filters
To be pretty
With no filter, I am bland.
I am ordinary.
I am, nude.
With no filter, I am like you.
With no filter, I am feriocious.
I am true.
I am, revealed.
Which filter? That is the question I ask myself for every photo
Knowing that everytime I alter my appearance for others
My self-esteem gets lower
Mask (noun)1. Something you use to hide2. Something that conceals a flaw3. Something that obscures someone’s identity
No Beauty.
No Color .
No Spotlight .
No Foundation.
No Conceler.
#NoFilter.
As I'm scrolling down on Instergram I see girls on film and boys showing off there new fade.
Who could be me?
No one but me
Take a Picture what do I see?
A reality of my beauty within thee
No filter needed at all
I love myself just as I am
no one could make me fall
Glasses
Sharp nose
Dark, patterened clothes
Sparkling baby blue eyes
Bright smile with a crooked jaw
Big loving heart with an old amourous soul
Behind the filter, behind the hashtag
I am beautiful. God has made me into the woman he wants me to be. I am not defined by the number of likes I get on a picture or the number on a scale.
"I" is edgy, "I" is hot.
"I" is exciting, "I" is loud.
"I" is daring, "I" is spontaneous.
I am not "I". I am a completely different me.
I am easily entertained. I am self-conscious.
I am quiet. I am nervous.
Haven't slept in two days? Lo-fi filter it.
Climbed the highest peak of a mountain and want to hide your sweat stained shirt? Valencia filter.
Just stayed up all night to read your favorite romance novel? Hudson filter.
i was the guy sell you anything under the sky
i was that guy that if i didn't have it, id take it
i was that guy to fight cause you looked at me wrong
I always said…
The only way people could really see through me is if I was shot 50 times in the chest
Through those bullet holes you could see police lights and my mom screaming she’s dead
Everyday I walk through the halls of red and white, watching unfamiliar faces of high school students pass by like a rock skipping across the water.
I am John Daniel Gresham
I am not perfect, far from it in fact.
I am a sinner, and I'm a teenager.
I am a rebel with no cause.
I make good friends, and I also make bad friends.
Life is tough I must admit.
Motivation, determination, it drives me not to quit.
When life gets hard I keep my head up,
even though im just a kid I act like a grown up.
We're held back and
stopped by the reds but go
forth when we're beckoned
by the green.What have we become?
Where caution tape decides
where we can and cannot
Thoughts of nothing
In times of despair
I see you strutting
Like you don't see me here
I wished to fly like a choir on high
To live like a new being awoken
To be sheet thin and soar the sky
Underneath the filters
Underneath the makeup
I am not who I appear to be
The girl people see
I am not always smiling
My hair not always perfect
A version of myself.
Entirely different from the one that I expose
Kept flawlessly preserved behind a mask
I've had to say it a few times in my #life
that I don't want you to go through my cell phone.
It is not because I have anything to hide,
No #DeepDarkSecrets hiding there, not even "suggestive content,
We have all been told
do things before you are old.
We sit here and laugh in their faces
and continue to walk at leisurly paces.
We go through elementary, middle, and high school.
Wake up, get ready, Go out.
Smile, Conversate, Engage.
Leave, Sleep, Repeat.
These things I do,
I say I love, Bring me pain everyday.
Wake Up.
Wake up to a world of hate and pain.
There I was
Here I am
Now I’m there
Now I’m gone
How can I tell who I am?
Each day a new me is born.
So sorry,
There is no answer to who I really am
Just one to who I’m not
I'm not perfect, I know that.
But perfection is boring,
It's what makes us complacent.
There are no filters in life,
Life isn't a picture to share with friends to judge.
Who am I today?
Thoughtful, Smart, Unstopable
Bubbly, Happy, Kind
Irritated, Angry, Rude
Who am I today?
Am I a force of nature?
Am I quiet?
Am I talkative?
Who am I today?
Why Me?
Why was I cursed?
Having a huge chest
Is definitely the worst
Nothing fits right
I can't ever find a bra
They're always too tight
Or not tight at all
My back really hurts
I am my paintings
Speaking from the walls
Tall and strong
I am more than my traveling lauhter echoing from hall to hall
My earth rich skin
With an abudance of melanin
What is human existence?Is it to pronounce our unfathomable desires in a rush of uncertainty?
Remember when girls went through that "selfie" phase?
It was like for every picture of their face that they posted
The hashtag was "no filter"
Followed by a billion heart emojis and smiley faces
Too plain Miss Jane
Hair pulled up
No foundation, just her natural blush.
How plain Miss Jane
Eyes neutral
Fair skin spotted with rose scares.
Pretty plain Miss Jane
It is hard to unwrap beauty
To hope for others to see past the lies
A blank stare of your nudity
Or a porcelain face in disguise
Underneath the flters
Where I would rather hide
We are skin
We sweat, we breathe
We sing, we dance
We laugh, we love
But we are skin
Painted
Exposed
Vibrant
And soft
We are judged
Not by the likeness of heart
life is not perfect, now isn't this true
and believe it or not neither am I or you
but perfection is not everyones dream
friendship and love will mend a tear in beautys seam
Although our faces may stand behind a electronic shield,
Hidden from reality,
We can still detect the truth if we were to peel,
Peel the colors from your pictures and disocver the unreality
A smile speaks for itself.
It can make people melt.
But can you see what’s going on inside?
Can you see their true self?
A smile holds a thousand words.
A smile can hide away what they truly feel.
Get up in the morning
Straighten your hair
Put on lipstick
You can’t shop there
Your “suggestions” are the foundation of insecurity
My mind corrupted by the way you think of me
I have seen my mother beaten, cursed, and mistreated.
I have heard the cries of my younger brothers. I have felt heartbreaking disappointment; and I have witnessed the effects of non spirituality.
Behind closed doors
I am lyrics I can relate to
And sad songs on repeat
To block out the world I’m not sure I want to be a part of.
Behind closed doors
I am scattered papers, pens, highlighters,
Misunderstood, misconceived.
Judgment by society.
Look to me, what do you see?
Silence unjustifiably.
Being a student can be fun, but also crazy
I can see the lifestyle creeping on students when they start to get lazy
For me high school is a roller coaster
It has its ups and downs but I make sure I never frown
1) My makeup is never perfect but I post pictures when it looks good that day.2) My pictures are never straight because I have a crooked smile and tilting the angle a little makes the bad angle of my front teeth go away.
Underneath the beating blanket of society,
Underneath the glamour ,
and glitz,
and cotton,
No Filter.
More than just a recognizable hashtag on social media.
Use this to prove a point?
When I was born, my father looked me in the eyes and could only manage the word, "wow" out of his dry lips, because he knew immediately that I was going to be a handfull.
No filter?
Why do I need a filter?
I’m pretty in sweats and a tee
With no make up on
And unkempt hair
So who the hell am I?
Let's see...
I'm a fricking nerd-dork weirdo with barely qualifyed coolness,
I'm an anime weeaboo and self-proclaimed "voice-acting officinado" of sorts,
After 23 years, the eyes seen so much,
trying to keep up in life, but its always in a rush.
High School flew by, Undergrad did too,
struggling to get by, while my bank account gave me the blues.
We all are born with no filterBloody, cold and scared,comforted by the maternal love,the one which loves with no conditions
To my peers, I am the entertaining cynic
To my family, I am the good-natured eldest
To my teachers, I am the laziest of the top 10%
When you look into the crowd
She won’t stand out
She’ll be in the background
Watching, observing, learning no doubt
She doesn’t post pictures on Facebook or Instagram
Society, today, is filled with bullies and hate,
and with many different social media sites to help cyber fiends.
People making fun of how we look or about our weight.
Boys and girls with acne who have only dreamed
I am the one you see
Enveloped by darkness and loneliness
The one you do not know the name of
but swear you've seen her somewhere before
I am the one that clinges to the shadows
I don’t wear makeup, it’s true.
I won’t cover my face with goo.
It feels weird, and is such a task,
but all the same, I wear a mask.
What I hide behind it is not my face.
I used to form myself with the clay of others
Building myself based of other people’s ideas
I was a baby, with society as my mother
Now I face the reality
If I go through life hiding behind a mask
lie your so casual, how you dance around in my mind finally tripping out my mouth like broken melody's
like shattered vowels cutting through my teeth
where is your manners?
Who am I without all the “filters”?
Well, sometimes I ask myself the same thing..
Optimistic, enthusiastic, and always eager.
Some might even call me a stargazer.
But is that really who I am?
I look in the mirror and what I see is me.
The socially anxious, self-criticizing, big dreamer
that is me.
A guy with high aspirations and strong morals
but always thinks he’s wrong.
I choose to be Naked.
First went my phone with a burst ,
my luminous guide darkened.
I am merely an average girl with a passion for fashion,
Photography is life,
And so are filters.
Realistically, I am a simple girl without filters,
Or maybe, a beauty-queen who needs a little edit.
Society
By: Claudia Hauslauer
My young sister asked of me why all these models are so skinny. I had no choice but to reply this is what society wants us to be.
When I was young, the look of myself did not concern me,
It was the look of the world around me that held my wandering eyes;
It was the trees that swayed so gracefully in the wind
The laughs of my loved ones;
The tears that fall into droplets on my pillow;
The sigh of relief after a long day;
The clap of an audience after a race;
The magical sound of music coming from within;
As soon as I see a filter
I feel awful
I need that filter for life.
Am i lying? IM LYING.
I dont want to lie.
I want to be true to myself but
how
I found out that
life alone is filtered.
We have our press
or our pictures
flashed on every source of media.
It isn't until
the sun is gone,
tears find your cheeks, &
I'm like the girl from Frozen only I don't like the cold
My whole body feels like it is going to explode
I hide my shame with gloves and shaky reassurance
Because all I seem to have left is endurance
The filter on right now is called "heading 3." I have the basic font on.
To not live in the status quo means to have no filter.
My name is Parker and I strive to live with no filter.
Yang and Yin
They struggle, they win.
I am darkness, I am light.
I am peace, I am might.
Don't get me wrong I love
But I don't know what's above
Who keeps watch over us,
All dressed in white I reached my palms out
To the frozen metal in front of me
I feel the wrought iron and knotted steel
Sterilized barbed wire
This is not my first experience in a cage
My last pay check how will spend it?
I look at my last pay check I know I won't forget it.
Because it's my last check and thoughts of how to spend.
I was me.
I was shy, intoverted, and different.
I was an outcast and a reject.
I was the tomboy with no friends.
I am me.
I am loving, compassionate, and beautiful.
I am a small town girl who loves to learn.
This sounds very cheesy, but it is true.
I am Vietnamese, but would love to give the language of Spanish a turn.
I am in college... Go Houston Coogs!
For so long I have lived with this filter.
It has been so long,
I no longer remember life without it.
Right, wrong.
Life, death.
Good, evil.
These are no longer choices that I can make on my own.
Who am I you ask who am I
I am just like every teenager around us
A teen with high and low goals
A teen struggling with the harsh reality of growing up
A teen trying to succed
Don't wear an upside down smile
No matter what your life is worth while
Take it from me, I lost my daddy
But I refuse to let that terminate me
Yes I miss him
Yes it hurts
Sometimes I lie
And sometimes cheat
And sometimes I hide
What makes me so me.
I suck in my gut
When I see a camera flash,
I sit quietly in class
And try not to make a splash.
Just little old me.
I stand here before you,
but there isn't much to see.
I stand, blinded by your magesty.
Your glory and your beauty
overwhelm me.
And I am nothing.
One.
These mirrors breed rebels:
They remind me that I am everything TV says I shouldn't be.
Filters.
They create only what we want the world to see
but without filters who will I be
Will I be smiling and laughing with joy in my eyes,
or will I be broken and lonely just wanting to cry
Who am I connected to at Christmas?
What is Christmas?
The most wonderful time of the year
Season for blizzards and snow days
A special holiday for people
The past is always
Whispering
reminders and warnings,
but we must also
Listen
to the shouts
of the present.
The future
remains silent.
These thoughts were better left unsaid,
Residing deep within my head.
But like a child sworn to keep
A secret, the words slowly creep
From my lips into the air.
I chose a truth and did not dare
Freckles dance on my body,
As my red hair sways in the wind.
Patient and calm,
Looking above to the sky.
Quiet and observing,
Towards everything around.
Excitement occurs,
Behind all the filters,
my pictures hold natural beauty.
Behind the makeup and touch-ups,
I have freckles that engulf my face.
Behind the smiles,
I hold back years worth of overcome struggles
What is it? Why is it? How?
Lunar gone loony
That Jamacian wants bacon
My atlas is torn
and all I can do is watch some porn
and I slide---
A twisted family portrait this has become
Weeds winding around my neck
The very ones I planted
Be cautious of what seeds you drop
Within your spirit
But I'm surrounded every day
I am defined
By society's boundaries.
By my religion.
By my standard of living.
By my grade.
By my age.
By my gender.
But nobody sees
What lies underneath.
Mom, you do not have OCD because you like clean sideboard.You are neat and I congratulate youbut you do not have OCD until your head is filled with a montage of shattering plates,bursting lightbulbs,smashing vases,
I walk with pride down the hallways of this hell hole they say the best moments of my lfe will fill
I stride past the girls who will one day grow to be everything they think I am
CheapHollowSomehow brokenYet still fragile
I put on an air For all to seeYet box and stowThe Genuine me
Never was I confident
High fructose corn syrup excess led to obesity in all its sense
Crumbling of anything that is positive
I pulled my tools from negatives to work on me with conciousness
I am just Me.
I have stretch marks.
I have scars.
I have cuts.
I have demons.
I have lost.
I have bruises.
I have acne.
I have fat.
I have weird birthmarks.
Most of the time i am confused and wonder which should i choice.
So many choices it seems i cant relive stress.
Im so focused on doing my best that i dont even do good on the test.
don't tell Me how to act or who to be,
how to act or what to see.
I don't need anybody to control Me.
instead I'll just be Me.
shy and fierce,
wild and refined.
quiet, crazy, loving.
If you could see the true me you'd see the broken girl
you'd see the mask she stands behind thats been cracked so many times
you'd see the misery
you'd see the heartache
In the wind there’s a whisper,
It speaks the truth but I choose not listen
For it is not what I want to hear
It bares the words that I have been running from my whole life
The fear clutches in my throat
The hair dye
The split ends
The glasses
The makeup
Caked on to bad skin
are just a small part of
The person I am
The quiet
reserved and serious
I display
House #1
I don’t remember House #1. My mom told me it was an apartment in Santa Monica. Babies are happy anywhere.
House #2
I am a member of a judgemental society
who believes that beauty is the underlying cause
to happiness
but when a beautiful woman tries to further her happiness
with education
When we're pushed down,
it is by one who has the same Bruises on their knees.
When we're being made a fool,
Looking through my photos but this girl doesnt look like me
She looks like the girl that I wanted to be
They comment saying that I'm beautiful
The eyes of the self; Still looking for myself;
Impossible to see. But possible to try;
I will take hundreds before I find the perfect one.
It is imperative to pick the correct filter.
It needs to make me look tanner
while also concealing the bags under my eyes.
i was a large, vast ocean
i had so much life inside of me
and i took that life and created more life
my waves crashed all around
eventually, i fell in love with the sun
I am mugs of passion tea held close to the chest
An American History enthusiast and lover of classic cinema.
I am the smell of pumpkin spice on a rare rainy day
A loved daughter of Christ, a shameless cat video addict.
Who am I?
I'm a person
I can see my body
So I'm real
I can see my skin
So I'm black
I can think
WOW
As I think I try and put each thought in to words
look at me, look at me and tell me,
what do you see?
Short hair and a wide smile.
Glowing skin and big brown eyes.
I am me.
I am my father’s short temper
and my mother’s contention
Each day I wake
I flip on my phone
in search of reality
untattered by edits
unfiltered by filters
why the mask
who are we hidding
why cant we see
the person abiding
Look through the fogged windows
The painted glass
The hazy mirror
And you see a distorted image
Remove the grime
The dust
i am beyond words and ink-stained hands because i've always thought language to be a
limitation
to thought
Slow motion it's what it looks like to live in a life full of music
music in my vains, music in my ears, music in the rain, and in the warm summer wind.
Only do I feel like my life is a movie, not only a movie no,
As bare as a freshly constructed beat
A song in the beginning stages
No auto tune, no mastering
Listen to my song, this here is me
Couldn't walk until I was 3
I am not interested in being seen as ugly as a flea-ridden rat or as attractive as a shiny pearl,
And I care not for taking "selfies" or using social media to acquire friends or followers.
When you see me
you think you know me
from what I present myself to be
or what I think you would like to see
of me of who I "want to be"
with hashtags and filters and make ups and cover
I hope I forget your eyes
And that I couldn't look way.
I hope I forget your smile
Because it makes me wish you'd stay.
I hope I never call you
When its late and I can't sleep.
Her Salted Kiss
Scars, scrapes, bruises.
inevitable remarks that tell a story
her salted ocean breeze whispers in my ear
The Art above the clouds
Shines my mind with imagination,
The animals in my surroundings
Fills me with delight of alliviation,
The movements of my life
Is like a video game that I strive to achieve,
I am one of three –Shadow, skin, and light.A triplet split from the same egg and sperm.XXMake it 3 and you’ll have meExplicit.It’s so sexy,Being cleaved into thirds.
The way I see it is that I am IT.
You may not see it from my perspective but check this,
I see my natural my hair,
I see my curves lovely, clear, and bare.
I see a queen.
I can't see through the looking glassTrapped behind my own eyesI recycle pieces of trashTrash that I can't admit resemble my own lifeRecycled trash that is seen as garbageTo eyes not mine.
My eyes were opened
today when you
were driven out by a
herd of wild coyotes
fighting for the hopes of
Tomorrow.
My soul was released
today when you
Myself without the mirror
I am reserved,
Hidden behind a wall
To protect me from the world
Through out the years a lot of me was filtered out.
And it's sad to say,
that I have accepted that.
and that I grew up that way.
Plenty of me has been sanded off.
the authentic me doesnt try and write fancy crap that sounds philosophical and sophisticated
the authentic me doesnt care for capitalization or grammar
because i know none of that matters
its the meat and meaning of it
Eloquent prose is a filter of mine,
Making me look like the sun always shines
Behind me, slightly to the right,
with my hair always flowing perfectly
just right.
I am not who I seem.
Kaleidoscopic eyes, unfiltered memories
It really happened, I wouldn’t want to change what transpired
Without my past, who am I?
For Losing shall I ever be Great
Losing long nights of pain
Before they found her
Quenching the thirst of my innocece
Saturating my pillow from sorrow
For Losing I am Confidence
Who am I?
I am me.
I am strong, proud, happy, yet sad
I am flawed but I am perfect.
I have green eyes.
I have brown hair, naturally at least.
I am amazing.
I am sassy, sweet, crazy yet sane
She is the new girl everyone is a little unsure of
They have already decided who she is
She is the one they have decided they do not like.
They hate her.
She hears but does not listen
The life of a writer isn't always words on a piece of paper.
In a small town lived a lonely girl
Haunted by her mind,
She left her nest and began to fly.
Tears of sorrow and happiness
She had cried.
I have strong eyes and a weak heart
I'm going to break all your laws
I have an iron fist and deadly bite
I'm going to break all your laws
I have long legs and a short temper
She's a different type of girl,
under all that founation, eyeliner and blush,
you may think she's an open book but oh how she keeps things at a hush!
Behind the cameras and the flashes
behind the makeup and false lashes
there lives a person full of pain
someone who smiles stay sane.
Years of abandonment has led to this
I am sorry.
i am sorry for shredding you to pieces when you deserved to be cherished.
i'm sorry for the six years of abuse i put you through and thought that you deserved.
Love can make you feel on top of the world,
But yet bring you down,
It’s amazing when you feel the acceptance from love,
But it’s devastating when you feel the opposite side,
Sometimes you have the opportunity,
Y U NO FAB? Y U NO ME?
Seriously.
I've seen facades and also the shine, to where time is no longer ours.
Coughing out black insteed of white, you can feel detatchment.
Without makeup, what am I?
- a normal, brown-haired, blue-eyed girl
-who gets acne just like you
Without a filter, what am I?
- an Aspie who always talks about what she likes
What's a filter really B?
Creating an illusion you wish to see?
Deceiving others.
Hiding under filter covers.
Fake lahes, hair, nals, an bodies are now excepted.
True bauty is now neglected.
When you are on social media,
You usually see the fun in peoples lives,
Or the beauty of it.
You never really know who a person is without filter
Nowadays, people are constantly insecure.
Click, Snap.
Pushed up her chest and arched her back.
Made that stupid kissy face to see how the boys would react.
She always posed for the camera like that.
Behind the painted mask on my face
I am a girl with dreams that I will conquer one day.
I am shy, but outgoing to those that are close.
I am friendly but reserved to those I don't know.
Discolored Skin and Acne Marks..... I am BEAUTIFUL!
Stretch Marks and Scars...... I am BEAUTIFUL!
Who's wild and crazy
A girl who's set free
someone who listens but can talk to those in need
Hips as wide as my nose
everybody knows
Teeth not perfectly straight
not my best physical trait
but still...
We live in an age of desperation
We're in a constant war but not with other nations
We fight ourselves on everyday situations
We're born in a bubble deprived of sensation
Life made of misconceptions
When I was first born, I was
Grown.
With all my anorexia and my blantant speech
And God was mad at
The girl of vibrations of the highest note of the song
Resonating a vacuous buzz
Took about 30 pictures, only 1 good selfie yet it's not good enough to post on instagram, yet...
Let me go update this one with a filter, which one is it going to be today?
You, over there, you got something you'd like to say?
You've got more rolls than a Swedish bakery.
Is that so? Heat me up and rub me with butter.
I was raised in a big family,
Every morning I wake up
And the first thing I do is paste
Layer upon layer
Until I’ve covered up my face
They say actions speak the loudest
So I make my smile shout
Raw, unadulterated laughter and wonder and sheer delight
cloaked within blonde tangles that cascade from time to time
I am a Natural Beauty
Them contacts, I don't need
Them lashes, I won't wear
That makeup it looks nice but my perfect Natural skin it don't fit right wit
Because my Beauty is Natural
Yes I have a Natural fro
I am temporary
I am fleeting
Vivid to the eye
Soft to the touch
with a laught that could make the church bells ring
I contain a shade so murderous that light is extinguished from existence
If people only realized this is as loud as I can be
I won't bray like a donkey just so you can hear me.
Just because I'm not boisterous and annoying
Dosen't mean I'm also always boring.
"Girls can't like sports"
"Girls can't do that"
"Girls can't"
I can list numerous stats on different hockey players
I can do a slapshot that almost rivals Chara
I can play a sport that is filled with men
locked up, no air
people screaming "I don't belong here"
take your blood- they shove the needle down
spilling your feelings that everyone must drown
Always checking vital signs
The way they see me is never true
Swathed in colors grey and blue
From heaven above my father will know
Exactly what I do not show
Yet here I am clothed in lies
Through the lense my soul flies
A young boy in the park,
Swipe.
A young boy in the park,
Warm sunshine on his back,
Swipe.
A young boy in the park,
Warm sunshine on his back,
Trees with rippled bark,
I am the bastardized version of the American dream.
To many I am not clean, to more unseen.
I was a foster care child, to which many equate to wild.
I keep our memories tucked in the back of my mind.
Your secrets hidden
I fight your fears so you don't have to.
I fight the tears so you don't have to.
I keep my love a secret promise to myself so I can see you.
Behind the filter, there is a girl that is naturally introverted.
She wants her picture to get 100 likes.
Did she use the right filter?
Was her makeup on point?
She just wants to be liked.
What were you designed to look like?
Looking at your self, in that dirty mirrior.
Don't forget to bring make up with you to school, it wears of by lunch.
How were you designed to feel?
Where I’m From Poem
I am from games,
from trading cards and computers.
I am from the slide in the park,
Reason beyond reason, madness within madness
Swirling shapes and color
Formless and hapless, bleeding forth
The very essence which is life.
the whimsicle wind departing the tears that run dry to the sun performing this beautiful pluiophile
precisely the petrichor of the rocky road mountain
Filters are just lies we tell ourselves to fit in with the rest of the world.
Filters don’t make us happy they hide our true selves.
Filters hide who we really are
With filters, I may look "girlie"
I may look happy and carefree.
Therefore, you may not think of me as a band "dork"
How can I be a marching band girl with good looks?
I am a member of a different generation obviously. I may have been born in the same year as my peers but I am me. No tweet will ever say differently. I am the person who leaves the post-it notes on the lockers, and puts up the posters around
The walls are not as strong as they appear,
Flawed with cracks and thin as paper.
Exuding strength, they ward off anyone who is near.
What looks like stone is only vapor.
The smile that shines is genuine,
There is a conspiracy,
A conspiracy of originality,
Authenticity is a fairytale reality,
It no longer exists.
I want to complain of a genuine deficit,
The loss of credit and the death of “the real”.
In a world of other people,
Who am I?
In a world expectations,
Who am I?
So many different version of who I am
Friends, School, coworkers, family
I all show something different
Cold.
Until you walk back into my world.
My warmth revolves around your surreal, earth-colored eyes and the heated stare you linger on my face.
Busy.
I'm so busy, but not really.
As people come and go
I sit here alone
Not knowing what i am
What am i
I hear tales of knowledge
that people know already
what they are
who they are
way they are
No Filter, No Make up, No Dress up
Just Me
With my big red glasses, with my big baggy t-shit, with my big nose, and my big toes
Just Me
Without straight lines to define me,
I'm all curves and colorful hues
life is a bleesing but life aint fair
blows from each direction put a knife right here
dreams aint distant but they dont seem near
so the first we gotta do is face our own fears
I am a lonely girl who loves music
I wonder what it's like to live in a world without music
I hear the soft whisper of the wind
I see music notes flying around me
I want to live
I am beautiful?
See I am in between, medium, in the middle.
I am not light I am not dark, they call me brown skin.
with the right filter I am light, and with no light you are blind.
I work and work, I grind and grind,
Go about my day with leaving nothing behind.
I train night and day like there's no tomorrow.
Because the thought of failing fills me with sorrow.
I was just a twelve-year-old Vietnamese boy.
I was my parents’ love and joy.
I wanted nothing more,
Than to be successful in that side of the shore.
But the day when I moved to United States
When those green eyes locked
directly with mine
I felt a pain grow
deep within my chest
When his slimey palms
reached for my freckled arm
I winced and shook
They asked me to take away the filters
To show what remains underneath.
Why is a filter so undesirable?
Why do we idolize the untouched?
The "pure"?
For in my experience,
as a fish owner,
I am not the girl I thought I'd be.
I don't have my life together.
I'm not the eloquent coffee at sunrise and
Tennyson at nighttime person that you would love.
I sleep too late
Me is a face
Me is a mask I wear
Me is a cover I have to hold on to
When people ask "Who are you really?"
I hide in a cloak of ashes
I say what they want to hear, in hope that they may accept me
An outer shell warm and bright with a smile from ear-to-ear
is the painting I portray everyday while other people are near
Rambunctious, exiting, humorous, and never a moment aloof
Filters are something to mask us.
Flaws always cause a fuss.
We hide behind angles,
All their thoughts of us are caught in a tangle.
If we didn't cover our flaws and look fake,
I am a young woman with a thirst for an educaiton
The one with a mind
Flowing! Flowing with creativity.
The writer who's goal is to share this power;
The power that is imagination!
That's me!
Without magic filters,theirs imperfections. A simple selfie without the magic of likes.
As you look through a crowd of clones who hold their heads down, you'll notice a girl who walks with her head held high
Although, she doesn't realize her beauty
She'll stand alone, always looking towards the sky
Was it worth it to look at me..
and then walk away.
Was it worth the smile,
the enegry you put into charming me.
You taught me to care,
to believe in myself.
But you lied.
I’m sorry it is just the fact that I am a wild animal. I will not turn in my homework.
Each morning my face looks at me,
Some days with sleep still in its eyes.
And, though I like the face I see,
It's time to put on my disguise.
The brown eyelashes become black;
I am a beautiful woman
But my mind body and soul
Is confined by the powers of this intertwined worlds
Of what we call social media.
The filters of normal, Kentucky, slumber, and rise
Behind the makeup and smile
There lies a girl
Broken and lost is her heart
Not sure if she can be strong any longer
Feeling like breaking
More and more everyday
Searching for the strength to go on
Without these filters, who am I?
From what I can see. I'm just a guy.
I don't need filters. Why do I need them in the first place.
All they do is cover the taste.
I find this diguise to be cruelty.
Human beings have many different colors,
And they change them daily.
People are never who they seem to be.
We have filters on our phones,
On Instagram,
But most importantly,
who are you when you look into the mirror?
are you filtered? or is the vision clearer?
does valencia hide what is inside?
do you look at yourself through instagram's eyes?
The ginger, the bucklebunny, occasionally The +1,
I'm called a lot of names, but one always jumps the gun.
It depends on how you meet me, and what we're calling fun,
It depends on if I'm being flirty, calling you my hun.
Today in life people aren't what they appear
I look at today and shutter in fear
Am I the only one still sincere?
Im the only true soul left on this sphere?
“Momma can you please braid my hair?”
a ritual request with each daily fading of light from the window
I am a goddess
I am fierceI am flawlessI am strongI am passionateI am courageousI am powerfulI am a goddess
Do You Ever ?
Do you ever wonder where the moon goes when the sun comes up?Does it disappear or is it just hidden?
Filters are my opposite, I don't filter the true me.
No sound of a filter ever acompanies my voice, lound and pronounced.
My photos show of fresh powder being kicked up by my skis, banking closely on the slopes near every tree.
Freedom, what a word.
It is so obsorb.
Freedom in a filter, perhaps so.
Some however, will not let the filter go.
Afraid to let the scars show,
Afraid to be less then pro.
bless
the church bells ring as hard as they can
what am I doing here?
the angels step down from the sky
sing me to sleep
Bless
Can I be honest?
I'm not sure I can.
I know too many secrets
I try so hard to keep them concealed
To keep them in my hand.
Can I be honest?
I'm not sure I can
I feel like people think I'm not
This is a battlefield
The fire is burning
Smoke is rising
I'm fighting to save myself
I'm my own armor
I'm just lost in this crazy world
I've been given freedom to fly
If you take me for face value
You'd think:
A shy, timid girl
loves acoustic music
Hair artificially curled
nothing could make her tick.
Now,
Erase all of that.
Look at me
Oh the filter,
The super appealing,
Eye catching,
Version of me.
Is that seriously who I want to be?
A girl who is insecure
Would rather be a blur
Than in focus
Because in focus
If the eyes are the window to the soul, then my soul is covered by a clear plastic mask with black frames.
My about face to you, the world, is a shot
at Lexington's field for need, out of want.
Hidden 'neath the face of a redcoat, my bluff,
is my revolution'ry, my Yankee blue cuff.
Me.
I am me.
I would be me.
No matter the filter on the camera
I will remain me.
I could be dressed to the nines
and choose the filter that hides all the imperfections
I will still be me.
I have so much to do and so much to say
And I know that if I was able to remove that one thing from my chest
that one thing that keeps the light in
I don't hide with makeup
Social media? Nope
Don't say YOLO or 'sup
Give it up, there's no hope
Silence is my filter
No expression, no voice
Feeling much prettier when the makeup smears in,
the way it expresses and defines the fine print.
How confident it is to feel when long hair is added to the scalp,
Who am I ?
I am too many people at once
a lover, a optemistmt, a naturalist , a lover of literature
a hater, a pessemist, a materalist and a poetic amateur
I am Christian Phillips, there is no need to cover that up or change it. I don't consider it to be plain so why try to rearrange it. I couldn't change myself even if tried. Simply because I don't want to look different and have nothing to hide.
I am the Great Bambino,
No wait the Great Bamboozled,
They got me out here like you are good for nothing man just useless,
A confused young man where no where to go
Me at my core is nothing more than a little boy
Who wanted a pet dinosaur
A boy who wanted to become rich and famous and become a candy connoisseur
Imperfection
A blemished complexion
Staring at me in the reflection
A most natural thing facing rejection
Perfection is a requirement, no exception
A face less than beautiful receives no affection
Our Generation is so caught up in showing people what we don't truley have
We put filters on our pictures to cover up the lies that we hide inside
To be A battle. To represent neither the winner Nor the loser. But the entirety of the war. I am neither light nor dark But space between A no-mans land in shades of tan The bastard child of the cage and the wild I am natural.
My Instagram profile
is what I choose to show you:
The concert I went to Saturday night,
And my bloody nose from the mosh pit.
I signed my name on a thousand ledgers,
a complex man, with simple pleasures,
a jeering clown, still searching for an aim,
I am a player, and life is the game,
I make people laugh, something I do well,
You really want to see me with no filter, with the camera hitting me strait on like a protriat shot
No flatering angles and no captions
But do you really?
Behind the filter I'm just a brother,
That has experienced loss like no other.
Gone through something that no other should,
I want to go back in time,
I wish I could.
Love everybody for who they are
Not for what society expects them to be
Whether they are boys wishing to wear dresses
A touch of concealer, a tilt of the head
A flash of the camera and the color of the filter
My selfie shows my face but not me as a person
54 likes is what I'm defined by.
2 taps, and my mood will skyrocket.
4 times which your compliment has been copied and pasted.
I want to be exposed...
The filters of life can be cruel,
Filters expect perfection and edit till it is nothing less.
This keeps us from hiding our inner jewel.
The me with no filter is the me I want to be.
Dakota-
Mischievous, intelligent, blonde, daring.
Relative of hard workers.
Lover of God, animals, the outdoors.
Who feels confident in my Lord,
Freedom when riding my horses,
Me without a filter
is a home without the realtor
I'm independent
I'm meant to be more than
what society's telling me
selling me without the sticker
that says I'm old, off the kilter
I speak without filters, what comes to mind is said.
I dream without filters, what is wanted is achieved.
I see without filters, what I like is kept.
I live without filters, what I do, is what I do.
I am wild. I am spectacular. I am wildly passionate. I am jealous. I am human. I do dumb things.
Are you so sure that you want to see the real me,
the me beneath the smiling selfie?
Can you handle the pain, the grit
that hides behind the grin?
Do you truly want to see what lies beneath,
Without the filter, the make up
Without the lights and the masks?
Nothing?
Who am I?
What am I?
Really.
Broken.
Without the makeup, the filter, the lights and the masks,
I am the real me.
Whether you like it or not
I am what I am and say what I say
And as each night falls and I wait for each day
Call me graceful.
Call me witty.
Call me gorgeous.
I'll show you who I wish I was,
who I wish I could charm others with.
It seems to be working,
these filters.
Wake up.
Take a look into the mirror.
Who am I, really?
Short.
Girl.
American.
Average.
Atheltic.
What do these words even mean?
Feminist.
Artistic.
Brainy.
Authentic as this poem is it searches without much regrets
inside we find a child and more beneath fealty rugged doors
I cannot speak in every day my end is true
but in everyday I need God You
Universal infinite, as strung upon the stars
Collapsing voids, swirling masses of rock and gas, slowly losing solid grasp
Drifting into worlds where the unknown dominates a presence of oxygen
I come from the southern heat filled with country accents
From a mom who worked hard now her back's bent
I've had an uncensored mind since adolescence
Seen the truth as a child I was learning lessons
If you are not left handed, you will never know the small annoyances that come with everyday life.
You will never understand the pain of writng in a sprial notebook or using a pen.
We all want to be special in some way in the world,
but what holds us back?
Is it the failures, mistakes, or misfortunes of our past?
It's the scars that pose as the three.
Sometimes I wonder about our generation
How will we fit in with the larger population?
We go through our days hoping to be distracted
And we dont stop and think about the way we acted
Would you pour me a cup
In a classic mug
The morning cup
Sweeter than a hug
In the real world there's nowhere to hide,
no touchups or retakes or black and white.
In the real world I try and I try,
to be someone different,
someone hard to come by.
I am something real,
Who are you behind a filter,
we try to look good and be someone we are not,
just look in the mirror and see who you are,
God makes no mistakes we the way we are from design,
why change perfection with a filter,
I think too fast
Thoughts flood my mind everyday
Doctors call it ADHD
I call it an advantage
Medication?
My mom's addicted
I dont need it
My mind and body are strong enough
Without filters
I'm me
In my glasses, with some acne
I'm beautiful naturally, to a certain degree
I have curly, frizzy hair
I hate wearing makeup
I lay around in t-shirts and shorts
As I sit lonely in my room,
An image of myself stares at me,
As I stare back a growing cloud of gloom,
Hovers over as I doubt that this is who I should be,
'You're too dark,'
'You act so white,'
Volumshous, Curvy, Chunky
First thing I wrote because thats the first thing people see.
They don't see me
Smiles, Laugh, Dimples
The impertinent things
I see beauty, grace, importance
Hair down.
Face clean.
Sweats on.
Nail polish chipping.
Music loud.
Dancing around.
This is me
In real life.
By myself,
With no one around.
This is me
I am me,
there is noone else I would rather be.
Sure I have OCD,
but that only expresses me.
Yes, I love photography,
it is my way to feel free.
Writing is my way to say,
Help,I am not okay.
A silent warrior who takes things
blow by blow
one hit after another
never striking back
and is left to clean up the mess.
There is little that is right about me
My thighs like each other too much to put a gap between them
My head is too scared of the sky to be any higher up
My mind wants to speak, but is afraid of being wrong
I am a mirror.
I reflect the look of others.
Even with no influence
I am never blank.
Elusive, colorless, sharp
I sit there and stare
until one day I shatter
I am my own, but that is not entirely true because I belong to the one who made me and you
Yes I believe Christianity to be true, so thats the filter I live through
Behind this filter is just a regular picture of me
Other than physical features, what else can see in a person in a selfie
I am fine with or without the filters
No need for those extra colors schemes, highlight and lowlights
I just need the natural sun and good angles for Instagram
No need for a filter I am still fine
I stand on stage, on a pedistal. Senior Royalty in a Kingdom of High School
To them, I'm Miss Perfect
Walk down the halls and see a million faces, the biggest smile on mine
A simple, different, and determined person is the best description of me. I’m a simple student at Hebron High School who works hard every day to accomplish my dreams.
A hellishly dull land leaves nothing to desire;
The cold marble floors hit hash against my feet.
They reflect the strange, distant faces I didn't wish to meet.
Dumb and dull leaches one after another,
I look in a mirror and see nothing
I take a picture and see a plan face
Only when adding a filter will I feel like something
When I add filter I hide the dark tint on my skin
Making it my very own filter
In life with #NoFilter,
My expressions may seem bitter.
From a less-white smile to acne,
A filter may cover what others shouldn't see.
However,
In a world with #NoFilter, my ideal traits show-
If you were to go on my Instagram,
You would see,
Pictures of me, my cat, and my team,
Along with stereotypical pic collages that comes with being eighteen.
But do you notice,
I am a girl. A girl who throws shades on to block the truth out. With walls built so high like a barricade so my authentic self keeps in lock. With no filter I'm still that same girl who strives to reach unreachable goals.
Waken to see me,
Tied back by the loom of graces long hesitation;
The folds of favor seem to do none for mine.
Take up now the salty masses of chance,
Those hateful broods who lie beside you;
There is this fire inside of me
The heat is overwhelming
I try to extinguish it
but all it ever does is burn me
i am tired
there could be no other explanation
for these thoughts that swirl the mind
they're like clouds that build up
and the rain pours, and drenches the roofs
eventually it brings a leak
Aye, that natural beauty tells a story
show my power and courage to not be like others
Show off myself because theres only one of me
with added enhancers we are all the same
Raised under watchful eyes
I stand under broad daylight
Expectations driven through the mind
Curiosity crumbled into a pile of dust
Searching for an exit in a complex maze
Hand reaching for a dream so far away
"Write about a trouble in your life," they say-
but in no way
can I relay
the way that I got laid
To them I'm weird or crazy
I say maybe
Then the other five voices in my head start blazing
Going on a rampage trying to get their two cents in
Come on get it together Adrienne
Without filters and false smiles I am strong,
Even if sometimes I feel I don't belong.
I sometimes smile to the sky,
and that in itself is enough to get me by.
I don't have many friends,
I'm afraid of the dark
I stay in the light
Unless I know I am not alone
I love laughing
And to make others laugh
But on my own terms
I am motivated
But I do not resent breaks
Expectations weigh down.
So, why be the one everyone looks to?
Why be the one everyone wants to be?
Why work to satisfy?
Why does it matter?
Why do you care?
Always in the reflection of their mirrors.
When I am down and out
I will immediately come back swinging
Because I am Joseph A. Conciatori
I do not concern myself with what
My peers tell me is right or wrong
I have a God-given right
My shoulders are drooping underneath the heavy weight of expectation.
I'm being dragged by the leash of society.
Skin the color of caramel
A few chocolate drops here and there
Despite my flaws I am beautiful
The me without filters needs a lot of work.
The me I am cares about people and yet
simultaneously can’t stand them.
If I had not a foresighted bone in my body,
blood would surely be on the ground by now.
I see him, my heart flutters
Yet he sees me and he only sees my body.
Am I silly for wanting him? No I don't think so, doesn't he want me?
My friends shake their head, but I'm in denial of their obvious truth,
Behind these green eyes
(Lies, lies, lies, lies)
I mean.
Behind these green eyes,
Lies the secret to my asphyxiated kingdom.
I may not reveal the secret.
Because Secrets are meant to break,
The real me is not as perfect
As I make it out to be.
The real me wears glasses
Because my sight is far from good.
The real me has wavy hair
That is no where straight.
The real me has freckles
Who am I?
I'm just the shy, quiet girl
Avoiding eye contact, head held low
Ripped jeans and a baggy sweatshirt hide my body from criticism
That's what the world will tell you
But who am I really?
Me on the edge, academics were on a ledge. No longer the excuses, education all wins no losses. My visions of success were clouded by stress. I needed a motivational asprin to ease me on my test.
Poison
Slowly spreading through my veins
Silently killing
No one can see my pain
I have to shake it off, fight the feeling
Find the antidote
Seek my healing
I am from café con leche and pan tostada con mantequilla
Eaten besides hot summer suns.
I am from filled sketchbooks and vinyl records piled high
Ever encouraging my imagination.
I don't really feel like putting on make-up today.
Or tomorrow.
Or ever.
Why do I need to straighten my hair?
It has character,
Pizzaz.
Who cares if I wear a t-shirt
or sneakers
Hidden faces, secret thoughts, and unseen emotions
Building a superficial wall of counterfeit endeavors
Masking internal desires and devotions
Disguising each fault from past friends and lovers
With the filter on,
it's clear to me,
I'm a good student.
A good employee.
A good daughter.
A good girlfriend.
A good girl.
Such a draining role!
Around and around, higher, high,
The ground I see from a bird's eye
The people, the places, the time go by
The pictures I find in my mind's eye
I'm an Artist, straight and true.
Peel a layer; at first there is no difference.
Try another two or three and I might turn a shade pinker.
Seven is the magic number; something begins to seep through then.
See here the blue blood -
Well for starters, I am a girl
Trying to understand all of life's whirls
All the while, growing up with many distractions,
Too Small
This phrase has shaped my life
Every coach has always spat at me with this
No Frustration
Determination sweeps through
Dream comes true
College Soccer
i built myself out of petticoats and stories and the sound of my bare feet as they hit the floor and i do not owe that building to anyone and i do not owe anyone silence
Rewind delete then press repeat
On with my life lived oh so neat
I cry with a laugh so unique
Who hears my tears but the weak?
I gnash and break all my teeth
All that's left are gums that bleed
At the end of the day, when I look in the mirror
Just what do I see?
It’s the face I created, the face I want the world to know.
But when the hair comes undone, or the hat comes off
I could tell you,
As I have seen many sixteen year-old girls tell others,
That my smile covers the tears I’m hiding inside.
That would be a lie.
I’m confused.
If you were to,
Per chance,
Forget that an orange is not eaten,
Exactly like an apple,
Society, expectations, me.
Society sees me as a flower,
expectations see me as the lost sheep,
I see myself as Llailyn.
Llailyn?
Yes, Llailyn: Jay-leen.
Smart, goals, family, smart, goals, family.
Filters make life black and white,
and without them,
I find myself to be
Red.
Red hair,
red face,
bloodshot eyes,
all normal for me
when a photo is taken
without notice.
# I just don't understand them
Not going to back down for a worthy cause
Open to new ideas and others
Faithful to my family and friends
Independent member of society
Like to help others when I can
There's a side of me
I can't let them see,
so I cover it up with makeup.
There's a habit I have
that doesn't seem bad,
when covered up with makeup.
The powder is thick
Follow the path down through the forest,
Outgrow fear and continue as night falls.
Find the man inspired by Horace,
His screams louder than the raven's squall.
Filters don't change us, they conceal that which we would lose.
I can hide my insecurities, but they are still there, aren't they?
Embrace the ugly and the radient,
I Like What I See: #NoFilter
I look in the mirror and what do I see
A person I do not always recognize looking at me
I want to be the BEAU and the TY
To have a mind, body and style that drives Mothernature wild
...could I have an addiction, maybe
But it's still me they see
I am the "curl up to read four books in a day" kind of girl.
Though I am no pearl,
I am the "hates makeup and purses" kind of girl.
Now, let it be known,
That I have flown
Many miles to sculpt my own
"Describe yourself in three words."
Carefree.
Confidet.
Brilliant.
Descibe myself in three words.
Worried.
Anxious.
Smart.
Selfies are stupid,
You can fight me if you think otherwise,
When people take them in public,
I look at them cross-eyed,
What the fuck are you doing,
Why filters exist, is another damn question,
Today I want to say to all of you.
I’m not a fan of a whole group chat.
If I want them to know,
There is a slight blemish to the reality of the world.
No filter is the reality.
There is still the color to my face,
Without the make up and the filtered lights.
Behind the cameras,
behind the cellphone,
behind the photograph,
who do you really see?
Yes, you'll see a girl
with a pretty smile,
but who is she?
Is she even real?
I am the Void,
the space in between.
I am the stardust.
I am the dreams.
I am all things
betwixt and between.
Neither child
nor adult
nor infant
nor ancient
There is no filter to describe who I am.
I have always been the same girl who holds it down.
Oh please don't look at me like I'm all types of crazy.
For when it comes to the business I'm never lazy.
Her brown crisp bristled tips spun into the cob of a web the hounding of the hounds bellow unto the misleading note missing from her head
Why is it that all people seeIs evilness and crueltyIn our world today?It might be because our world is full of nothingbut cruelty and evilness.
Scroll scroll, double tap, the cycle never ends. The accessories I add to make my picture just right, but is it me?
Under all the filters and adjustments you'll find me...
Shadows, tired eyes.
Kettle whistling. Here I am.
Sitting on the couch, awaiting my fate.
Scared, and hands trembling.
Hands crawl towards the torn-open envelope.
Smile for the camera,
Smile for the fans,
One thousands followers on your Instagram!
Every night I lay awake in bed
Trying hard to keep you off of my mind
Feeling hurt about the bad things you said
Wondering why you couldn’t be more kind.
I speak slurpingly, slurring syllables and
cementing sentences with a lengthily
locked lisp synchronized with second-guess—
second-guessing stutters.
I act awkwardly, sweatily pouring precipitation on a warty palm
Who is the man I see when I look in the mirror
Throw aside the filters and the facade and the image gets clearer
Who am I?
I am a dreamer
I let my emotions take over me
And I dream.
I dream of my past, present, and future,
I dream of what I long for,
I dream of life
Behind each selfie
Every tweet
Lie walls of protected secrets
We act like our life is an open book
But we still keep locks on the front covers
We'll share the food we ate for breakfast
I have family
I have friends
I have people who understand
I have someone who sees
I have someone who disagrees
I have many things
yet i am alone
I am an ostracized sheep
The surface is not who we are,
the surface shows nothing.
Surface is just for show,
the surface is bluffing.
Americans call this soccer,
but for me that makes no sense.
Free flowing voices in control of the stream my mind takes.
Constant struggle to hide my face everyday and cover my mistakes.
Have to be 4.0, straight A, never stopping, floating through like ghost hauntings.
I'm not instagram
I can't hide behind
The earlybird filter
And make my scars
Look more flattering
Than what they are
I'm not instagram
I can't use
Fifteen seconds of video
I am the epitome of a strong young women
My heart gets bent, but never broken
I am the odd one out around my peers
But I still train myself to love, be deviant, and perservere
Ive been betrayed by many
I am the clock that counts the depth of the days,
I am the goodness of your ways,
I am the feather that glides on the wind,
I am the cool mountain air that has thinned,
I am the light that illuminates your heart,
I asked him once if he narrates things in his head
The way that I do
The way that
We.
Do.
"GIRLS," society screams, "LOVELY, LONELY, UNKNOWINGLY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS!"
How much do people pay to get hair my color?
Everyone asks if I know, but no one gives an answer.
Albino blonde does not come from a box.
Though my eyes are weak, I see more than most:
Who am I?
Away from the smart phone corrections?
Do you really want to know?
Are you sure?
Well, I am a tree
with branches that reach out to many people.
People from all parts of the world.
My face is not my canvas
I can contour
I can paint
I can outline
I can manipulate
I Cannot tell a story
I Cannot move others emotionally
I Cannot be studied
My real canvas
She's waited, she's practiced she is now ready.
She runs out on the court,
takes a dreep breath and tries to stay steady.
This is her moment, her time, no messing up now.
She catches the ball, she doesn't know how
I am more than just a filter
More than what's behind the computer
behind the lightening effects of my skin
lies a girl wanting to fit in
My words aren't heard in the scene
My life displayed upon a screen-
I live behind a filter;
I never say what I think.
I’ve been trained to keep my mouth shut,
but my lips glossed and pink.
Without the social media, I am like all the rest.
My skin
Yes my skin
The skin that I'm in
Hair too curly to stay straight
Skin with an unfailing tan
Yes we stay
We stay strong
We are mixed nation
The multi-racial butterflies
If pandemonium had a soundtrack this would be it
Chaos Chaos we all cry out
We can't sleep
We can't breathe
Hands up don't shoot
Only together can we make a new type of soundtrack
The sound of peace
He's with her and she's with him but he was once with she and she was once with he.
She is still with he in mind and soul though she is with him.
i am sleepless nights
counting the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling
covering my mouth until my knuckles are white just to keep the sound in
tears on my cheeks match the temperature of my body
I am a beast unlike any other seen. One pushed up touched up and altered like a ball of dough. Some people come by with either their hands or their tools and alter me. for better or for worse everyone that passes by leaves something changed.
Like long standing mountains,
I am weathered and flawed,
Made beautiful by life's disastrous, awesome turns.
I am insecure,
Searching for meaning in a life I once thought I did not deserve.
If there was a way to tell my younger self everything I know about my life in five minutes .
I would use all three hundred seconds to be as precise as I possibly could be.
she is who she is
she is beautiful
post by post she hides the truth
she is not flawless
we are not flawless
who or what would we be if we were
cause thats not the her i know
She's hidden beneath the pages,
Words, and indentations.
She chooses to be nameless,
Lost in a wond'rous sea.
They come from her creation;
The people and their nations
So you want to know me? No filter, no edit.
How am I to know? I'm only 19.
Sometimes I am brave and strong and want to fight for the world.
Other times I am sad and scare and want to cry for the world.
Me
"Who is that girl behind the camera?" Some might say.
"She seems so sure of herself," Others go on.
But that's wrong. I'm none of those things.
You see my false face
Shining through the lense of a camera
It shows no wrinkle or scar
But if you care to look behind
You'll see there is so much more
My skin reveals stories
A mask
Is a thing to hide one's face
An actor
Without one is just a disgrace
But masks are for actors
And not for you
I like your face
And I like you too.
Do you ever get that feeling? That no matter what you do, you can never live up to the expectations? The expectations that are set by your parents or your friends or the society around you?
When I post a picture on instagram
It tells me "normal" is what I am
Though filters make my eyes look bright
Callng me nomal is so far from right
A beautiul fasade these filters make for me
His eyes took my attentionThose dark sapphire eyesI want a time extentionIs it a dream or is this love?
With the soul of a dragon and the heart of a knight,
With a love so sincere and a faith shining bright.
This is me world so let me in don't try and lock me out I want in! I deserve to be in! That's why I buy the finest of the finest polo, coach, MK, and Juicy Couture.... if I have those things I should be able to fit in right?...
No one to turn to...Alone in this world friends who you thought were your friends...not...They left you in the dark alone see these are the things that leads you to this sinful word.
Everyone is different,
I, just a little more than anyone else.
To me, I am
lost
insecure
hopeless
scared
To my family
lacking
imperfect
perfect
“Just one more”
One more selfie after 95 others
Only one more attempt to find their “good side”
With another filter, another caption, another expression
I'm fineI can take itI'm a big boy.I'm a big boy.
You know,It'd be easier if you'd just hold my hand.
Amazing, to me, is how music can take you
Places imaginations would go.
Whatever the theme, it begins with a dream
Its boundaries and limits not known.
Rather inspiring, to me, to hear
Everything I see, I see through someone else's lens,
Someone else's point of view.
Someone else's tap and click.
Not bad, just different.
but when you take our filters our lenses our taps our clicks
When you look at my face, clean and makeup-free, what is it you see?
Do your eyes linger on the dark bags my blue eyes carry?
Does the mole by my hairline distract you from your initial thoughts?
I want to go to sleep
But never wake up
With words so deep
My life I reap.
Lying in bed
WIth the sheets grasping my head
My face turning red
Hoping I'd end up dead.
Who am I?
It can't be defined in words.
Who am I?
A symphony with a million notes.
Who am I?
A broken mirror pieced together.
Who am I not?
I am no longer a doll.
Small girl, with far from normal dreams
Everyday I wake up wanting the same thing
see I want to see the world make a change in how we're seen
cause now-a-days everyone seems to be hidden behind a screen
You cant live life without being yourself. If you live life be hind a filter, then your not living life at all, you living a lie,
If I showed you a picture,
would you love me today?
If it's #nofilter,
would you promise to stay?
The truth that is I bother
to cry to you my past,
for with #nofather,
Get to know me!
3, 8, 2, 5, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, I broke down my ethnicity numbers for you.
38 percent Black...
25 percent Bahamian...
13 percent Puerto Rican...
12 percent Irish...
i am not number seventeen
grade twelve
first row
third from the left
you cannot
multiply any of these figures
and form an image of me
i will not allow my life
At first glance you might tag me as the nice guy who always smiles and waves, but I think I give you some insight behind the mask today. Anyone who knows me close knows sometimes that smile is a facade covering up what's really going on.
Fail to tell me, if you think I am not strong.
Do you really think that I don’t know?
I’ll tell myself, I won’t leave you to suffer with the truth for long.
Staring at the expressionless reflection on the other side of the mirror
Searching for the hopes and dreams and aspirations that once became me
I didn't give it much thought until now.
I can't say I've given much thought to anything until now.
Why we're fighting our system because they're doing it wrong instead of rethinking the way that it's taught...
Why do I even bother with writin, readin, speakin
When there's no universal goal we're all seekin,
Hello World
I wake up everyday revealing me
You see
I am comfortable in Joshua
There is no need to hide my attributes with the filters of the world
These hurtles of insecurites
We do things
Things that aren't us
Colors, powder, liner
Bandages on our true beauty
This is not me
I take my power
Me
My words heal
Mine come from another mouth
I am BOLD
I am WISE
I am STRONG
I am YOUNG
I am MOM
I am FREE
I am HONEST
I am CAPABLE
I am ME!
I try to be as true to myself
as I can be.
No matter the surroundings, the people, the class
For I have learned it is better to live life
the way I want.
I am not a follower. I do not believe in fitting in.
Such a self reflective thing am I
I sit alone most of my time, some people find it strange
I however scoff and say introversion is no crime
I am the one sitting behind a book or immersed in some work of art
Vulnerable, as if everything I am is stretched out on a wire.
Stubborn (at least that's how I see myself) up to a point,
waiting for a chance to turn away, to erase what I see in the mirror.
Take a picture,
And I'll stretch apart my mouth, irritating my cheeks.
Add a filter, change the color tone, crop here
And 0 to 100, real quick, i'll be social media ready.
There once was a fiddler, festivities she'd play
Hat on her head, boots on her feet, requests ever which way.
At twenty-two, she'd yet to find,
A man appreciative of her brilliant mind.
Behind the filter is where it lies
In black and white is where is hides
When we think we shouldn't shine
This is the truth in all the lies
I hide the flaws that do not show
When you look into a mirror who do you see?
Whe you snap a picture do you use filters?
When I look in a mirror
I see me
I see a girl who is afraid of being alone
A girl who wants everyone to get along
Who am I?
A voice among the thousands
A breath amidst many souls
I'm a flick of paint
Against the bright canvas of the world
Who am I?
A nobody in disguise
A somebody waiting for opportunities
I stand in the bathroom looking in the mirror.
A brush of mascara, a sweep of eyeliner, a touch of blush
all over my skin covered in pale powder.
I take a picture. Flash! Flash!
I've tried so hard to be someone I'm not.
Someone so different that I nearly forgot.
The real me.
"Snap" goes the camera as she take another. "Snap, Snap"
She isn't satisified. She goes again. Every image of her face, showing the same smile
Same eyes and same nose, but as always the picture is never right.
Beat cause I'm black in America.
I endure racism,
Self-hate,
Oppression,
Misconception and devised plans,
I lack introspection and revised plans,
So I strum to the beat of the white man.
My skin is brown and the iris of my eyes are darker. My hair is kinky and nappy but overall I am happy. I could wear a weave, colored contacts, and skin bleach, but that is not the outer me.
At 6am, I'm miserable.
Time to get out of bed, move my behind,
Clock in for $7.25 at the daily grind,
Eight hours for this is fucking criminal.
At noon, I'm finally awake.
Labeled like an item
Unheard like the truth
Critiqued like art
I strived to be where I am
I've lost what i have earned
I am a fighter
Yet I am my own opponent
Music soothed the beast
Without a filter
Would anyone recognise
Without the words not of mine
Would anyone listen
Without a cover up
I will be
Insecure
Afraid
Cautioned
Paranoid
I am the boy named Koid
The boy who loves the world around him
the tv he watches,
the video games he plays,
the family he loves,
the boy goes online a lot, he finds a whole universe.
The social media see's her hidden behind a special feature something we call a filter
Behind the filter I am a storm of beautiful chaos.
I am a pool of indecisiveness.
I am a bundle of uncertainty,
As I stand in the mirror everyday
I think about what changes I've made
what chances I took
The regrets I have
The life I've lived
The years ahead
I realize what I used to be
is not the key
A picture's worth a thousand words,
But what of that are lies?
To me, I don't like pictures, as they hide you in disguise,
For what am I, to tell you, who I am?
I am me.
I am not strengthened by others' flaws
Nor am I weakened by their assets.
I do not wish to give them false ideas
about who I really am.
I am me.
Do ya know who I am, behind the makeup, the dress? Behind the flaws, and the fear, man I'm flawless! I've given up on caring bout' what others think of me, cuz the truth is what I'm wearin' is the skin of me.
There are several-thousand- maybe even several-million ways that one can edit a photo,
But each photo is conceived in the same manner.
The red button in the lower center of the device is pressed.
How do I describe me
How I am
And what you see is me
How do I describe me
Well, for starters I'm 23
How do I describe me
I'm a college student
Who will owe a lot of money
Lullabies sung in the wind,
Sing to be heard again.
Hushing rivers rise,
To meet the tides.
Summer rain,
Drown me once again.
Lightly snow,
The fear that doesn't show.
Twinding branches,
My sound?
Is a silent night, I have no music
no beats, or rhythem.
My sound?
Crickets on a summer day.
When I was born they sang.
My sound?
Is a soft noise
What people can do, is tell themselves they can do.
The only thing holding you back is the choice to follow through.
Everybody has a genius soul, and the ones that we all know
are the ones who push their limits.
Without filters we would all be the same
Bland, Blind, Blank
Same white canvas, same textured frame
Who I am I without a filter?
We've all been through filters
There is a girl inside of me
That wants to be all she can be.
The parts that I give permission
For you to see
Are filtered oh so heavily.
Behind the Walden, the Hudson, the X-Pro II,
When I take photos there is no filter
When I describe me there is no filter
When I am me there is no filter
Why put a filter when you can just be you?
Why be 50% you?
When you could be 100% you all the time
#nofliter
Why must we put a label on a picture that has nothing
but a fake smile and good lighting?
Because behind the raised eyebrows and the plastered grin on our face
If I took off my mask
You'd be afraid
And I guarantee you'd run away
Because I'm not like the girl you know
I'm not quiet
I speak my mind
You can't convince me to believe what you believe
Without a filter what are we?
Without all the effects what are we?
Without the popularity and the followers what are we?
We are misguided.
I go where it's dim, only somewhat light,
you can tell it's still me, just a tad bit more, "right".
i'll move my hair, to cover some more.
I Am MusixBut not only so.For You See,I am also human,And must also bewhat must surely be comin'!I am laughter.So bright and omniscientWith Lenses focused
I am bold, extravagent
Sepia, rise, valenica, and black and white
have no growth to represent I.
I am plain to the world
but glamorous to those looking within.
Like a growing shrub,
If the whole world were to look up at the same cloud,
what would they see?
If I peered through stained glass,
do I still see the same cloud?
Do you see me as I see me?
Meek.
Who am I?
When people look at me what do they see?
Do they see the person that I try to portray?
The mature 19 year old? College Sophomore who has everything put together?
So many things happening around me and it just amazes me how God just continues to keep his hedge of protection around me and to bless me.I sometimes wonder about things that happened to me in the past and how so any people have walked out of my
My flesh,
Locks of messy brown hair,
And dull brown orbs
Become pixels.
My flaws are defined
Or barely able to be seen.
Filters
Extra pixels
cover the flaws I embrace.
Mirror, Mirror on the wall
Why do I hide behind a mask and walls?
If I were to show the real me, would people run?
Would they stay with me? Or would I be left?
People see me as the girl who has no worries,
Behind the scences of no filters
I am who I am.
without it you see all my flaws,
There are few things in this world that need a filter
Coffee being the main one
Was I sub post to be born with one
Or can they be installed like a TV
How can things improve
If no one tells you
Though there are many different filters, I have one that is my favorite.
Some may not even consider it.
It's known as "normal"
You see, this filter has acne scars.
Also, the teeth aren't as white as they seem.
Useful but useles,
Depression within,
Sunlight and darkness blinding my vision,
The two fued and grow a connection,
That rises tension forming me,
Chill, relaxed, zoned into a beat,
Confident.
Determined.
Unshakable.
Beyond the image the world sees
Those closest know who I am
I do not bend to other's will
I do not compromise
What is right is right
Beyond the lines , that bar away, the confusing notions of thoughts so grey, I see myself, standing still, framed in a photograph, resting on a windowsill .
It took me 17 years to wear clothes that I liked.
It took me 17 years to say yes when someone offered to do something.
It took me 17 years to participate in class.
It took me 17 years and I still fight everyday.
A girl with long brown curly hair.
She's friendly, helpful, a hard worker,always with a positive attitude,
I'm the next new name brand.
I'm the next major Meek Mill fan.
I'm the next.
I'm the next.
I may not display on my chest,
but I want to be the next to star on set.
I'm the next.
I'm the next.
#NoFilter is seen on every insta pic
But we all know it is fake.
I don't use filers to kick,
kick my true self out of the feed.
Natural beauty
Makes you pretty
No make up, no problem.
In my selfies,
I turn my "bad side" away from the camera
I strike a pose that lets my hair fall
Like a curtain before a show
Over my lazy eye,
The one that won't just behave and pretend to be normal
The way I see myself is created of many shades,
some darker's than others.
My ideals and values are one of old's,
something thats seen untold.
The artists of the past have corrupted my mind,
I remember how the dogs never slept at night, how sticky my skin got
after a day in the heat, how I stopped taking showers because I thought
lake water would do just fine, and if your hair got greasy,
When I look in the mirror who do I see?
Let me be honest, I see a girl who hurts on the inside and can't control herself all the time.
I am the type to just be alone in my room and sit there and think.
High School is wearing thin.
What have these 4 years taught me?
Why, that is to keep high your chin.
When I walk, heads turn
"Who is this girl with all the confidence in the world"?
Lift my head high, you would'a swore I was lookin at God himself!
When I talk, heads turn
Me without a filter is like water without being purified
Like stream water before getting sterilized
See I come with my benefits but can be poisoning
You get the true nature of me no games no gimmicks
They say that the early bird catches the worm...
Yet Earlybird just creates a haze that casts shadows on faces and words.
It's funny because Nashville shows no affiliation to Tennessee;
A Young girl, about 17 or 18.In a croud of roudy teens at a concertShes wearing her favorite vestShes Smileing and having a good time in the pit and, at her very best
So what if I'm not thin
I can't play sports
I'm not strong enough for physcial things
But,
Raw.
Take away the chlorine and see
Water not yet purified,
Expansive and mysterious as the ocean,
Curious and shining and rocking.
Rhythmic Waves.
Violent storms.
I am damaged and desolate. I stand amidst a land of withering, dying trees and although I can see the light that brings the open, thriving forest of greenery to life, I know I will never feel the warmth of that glow on my skin.
I’m a unique individual, well I claim to be, because nobody is me, even though I have a twin.
I am an actress,
I am a dancer,
(though I cannot dance).
I read. I write. I lead.
I have a mean right-hook,
but I am no athlete;
I am a sham, a faker, a liar.
I am #...
Always almost absent
Beautiful beyond boundaries
Constantly causing chaos
Desperately desiring dreams
Extremely enigmatic
Ferverously faithful
Grateful good girl
Insercurities seem to control us,
drive us to do strange things.
Plastic surgery,
aneorxia,
A flashing light coupled with a dilating lens.
I hide my face with rosy cheeks, and a nervous smile
It looked original, body so curvy, eye's so blue, gray, green, even something a little in between, you know what I mean?
HAHA
No Filter
Haha
Pure face
Haha
Hidden disgust
Haha
Beautiful lies
Haha
Look at my face
haha. .
my laugh is weird. .
haha. .
I'm just kinda queer
I’m dreaming of ice capped Himalayan souls
without algorithms stenciled to their cheeks
and bloody lipstick, grinning ear to ear.
I watch you as you persist “Just know it isn’t you.
You are not the reason I’m acting this way.”
As if those strings of loosely bound words could ever
make the sound of the silence feel any less sharp, as if
Life kind of sucks, I wish I could give zero fucks.
Really none to give, why do I even choose to live.
Forget what I'll leave behind, if only you could see what's on my mind.
Life kind of sucks, I wish I could give zero fucks.
Really none to give, why do I even choose to live.
Forget what I'll leave behind, if only you could see what's on my mind.
Snap! I've been captured!
But luckily it wasn't me.
It was the person I wanted to be.
Beautiful butterfly, hilarious hipster
but don't forget, that was just the filter.
The real me struggles daily
I connect every star with an imaginary line
But also link our fate together with a single red thread.
Love forged upon theinvisible path I paved
Falls perfectly into my own celestial vision.
With every ounce of my being I adore you.
I see more of you in me than anyone else.
You are my best friend, my role model, my mother.
Since the day I was born you were the one I could count on.
I am usually socially awkward,
the mask makes me look handsomely forward.
I love to draw with my friend,
the mask makes my friendships end.
My words will the doves fly,
the mask make you question me: why?
Eye shadow hides the bruises from the mean girls
blush hides the punches from my boyfriends hands
lipstick hides the pimple that sprung up over night
why do yo wear makeup? you will never understand.
If it's worth the penny you'll give for my thoughts,
I will be willing to state a small truth.
To apply a censor is an awful lot
more harmful than words that are uncouth.
A word said is a word expressed,
what is the point in surviving?
does anyone even know?
when it routes inside you
how are you to let It go?
It knows all your secrets
will become your biggest fear.
slowly, It rips apart
Everyone thinks I'm flawless in this school
The teachers, the students, the janitor that cleans the pool.
Everyone thinks I can do it all
Good grades, a girlfriend, and a star playing baseball.
I suppose I've never known how people see me-
Not to say that I haven't thought about it a lot,
(much much more than I care to admit)
There was a time I didn't think anyone saw me at all,
I began as a little piece of algae, and after my lifespan,
I died.
I didn't know much of anything as a piece of algae and after I died, there was no party to celebrate my life as algae.
Shutter Snaps
Perfect Picture
Fancy Filter
But which one?
Sierra? no
Sable? no
Sutro? Yes, that's perfect.
110 Likes...
But Who Am I,
Behind the filters?
Who Am I,
What am I?
I have asked myself this question for a very long time.
But, it’s not that I do not know
Or have doubted myself for a while;
You see,
I do not fit in.
Filters and Captions can't define the person who was frozen in time when the picture was taken.
Without the power of technology I am ME.
Simple and Authentic as I can be.
When all the petals have fallen,
a lonely carpel on a stem, is
finally given its moment to shine.
Its confidence grows dim and afraid.
The petals, so bright, welcome the world
and glow with confidence.
Filters make you look better but make you fake They don't change who i am for Christ's sake Under these filters i am me Me is whoever i chose to be I may be far from perfect But I work for whatever's worth it Sour at the soul True at the heart Wh
"I woke up like this"
Head wrap on woke up at 5 in the morin,
Do I really want to go to stats? I ask myself while I am yawin'
God ave me purpose thats what I feel on my chest
I'm naked,
I'm vulnerable.
Having no angle,
no light,
no control,
I'm doomed to the undenying horror of my reflection.
The first time through, you held me close
Kissed my ear
My forehead
My mouth
You whispered inwardly, that you would never leave
The day that it came
Was the day that I broke
The colors of life are all that surround,
from which social media is everywhere to be found,
Facebook,
Instagram,
Twitter,
and Tumblr,
hashtags, likes, are all but words to make me humbler,
Ping ping the notification of a like
The sound of satisfaction
The sound I strive for
Recognition of my hard work
Picking filters, using quotes, hashtagging
Making sure the world knows I'm here
Come in, let me introduce myself
.
No, don't turn on the light.
I said I'd introduce myself.
We all look the same in the dark, don't we?
I feel you there, creeping oh so silently
Into my dreams you enter to awaken me oh so violently
In your wakes are my regrets and my vindications
And on my skin your devil's tongue has left its lacerations
Dark raccoon eyes stare back at me
Sleep deprived as anyone can see.
I am a former shell of better days
when I still danced in the suns rays.
Troubled ghosts flicker 'cross my face
Everyday I look into the mirror
a stanger stares back at me
if only they could see me clearer
and hear my plea
The inner me shines through the cracks
while trying to act
The inner me loves snacks
The world is just one masquerade. We hide behind masks of color. The color that disguises our true self, And makes us perfect for society. No filter shows my true self. The imperfections in my face, They are no longer in a guise.
I never use make-up
I rarely hold back
Whenever I wake up
I try really hard
To be only who I am
To only act like me
Filtering myself would be a scam
Being fake, all would see
You gotta start with need. A whole lot of need.
Needing comfort, needing love, needing attention, needing support, needing guidance.
I am a runner, I am a student, I am a worker
I am a student, I am a student, I am a worker
I am me, I am me
I think these simple phrases over and over,
On my tumultuous journey
Day after day people put on their exterior appearance, strap on their mask, and go about life
guarding their inner selves. But
Who are they really?
Dark hair. Tall enough. Slim body and big eyes.
Small cut on the left eyebrow but brow liner does the trick
Mascara and a pale face
Tender smile with clumsiness all around her
I am me.
They see me.
It disapproves.
But I don't.
Society shall not judge.
I will not pay attention.
Let the words seep in to my head,
It won't be happening.
No filter.
You'll hear from a lot of people, that recover is a road.
He's quiet, and sincere.
He plays sports 'round the year.
His life is put together;
He's got nothing to fear.
They've never asked Adam.
They only know about him.
He wants to answer all the questions
No filter?
I
never have a filter.
I am me and if you
don't like it that is your
loss
Or that is what I
will tell myself.
Be your
self
But fit in
It's odd that I do not need to add a mod-ification or filter
To show the real me, the E-R-I-C-K
E stands for excellent, this poem shows the essence
R stands for rhymer who spits fire
My friend who is a girl, my girlfriend said I'm indechirable
Like I'm coded war plans from the highest general.
She can't crack me open, but I was never closed.
No filters,
The real me?
Something no one wants to see.
Society wants fake,
Perfect and glam.
But I refuse.
When people see my pictures with no filters,
They may see no beauty,
I am Powerful.
People see me as the short five foot tall girl I am.
They picture me as weak and insecure, but I am powerful.
Behind the imperfections of my body, my cheap makeup, my middle class clothes,
Who am I?
That quiet girl, the one who would rather draw and be on her phone than talk.
That girl who has never been to a party let alone has ever been curious enough to go to one.
Who am I?
Amaro, Valencia, and X-Pro II; three of my favorite filters.
Three filters that everyone loves.
They make your skin seem softer
Your hair seem shinier
Or make your eyes pop out
Filters, distortions.
Most people think I'm this bad person
The person their parents told them not to be friends with
Honestly..
I wear a mask because
Nowadays
You can't be the person you really are in front of anyone
Filters mask our true faces,
Travel and filters matter less in far away places.
Take away all the edits,
Behind all the sarcastic wit,
You will find a young woman trying to make herself fit.
a woman with sad eyesbelongs to a speciesall unto her ownshe wears her grief as pearl earringsand sings melodies as she makes the bedshe drinks earl-grey tea
No one seems to know. Who is that girl?
That girl who will give her life for her family?
The one who plays sports, hangs out at the barn?
The one who doesnt care what challenges come up?
No one seems to knows.
There once was a little girl with brown eyes so big you'd think she'd seen a ghost,
and tangled waves of hair that fell around her face
The little girl with big brown eyes and wavy hair was excited to see the world
The rage sets in
It pools in my stomach
My hands itch to break something
My chest is tight
My eyes burn with tears
When I was eight years old, I was a ghost for Halloween.
But when I knocked on my neighbor’s door, she still noticed me and handed me a Snickers bar.
But you didn’t do the same.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, freckles,5’6” and 150 pounds,My appearance won’t dictate my success.
1970 SAT, 29 ACT score,4.6 GPA, and 63rd in my class of 500.My academics won’t dictate my success.
I am kind
but sometimes blind
to those around me
i feel like most never shine
oblivious to all
i talk to my self
but almost no one else
I am not ok with with
my own being
To be me is be black
EVERYONE looking at me figuring the worst.
It seems like my skintone is cursed,
From Martin Luther King to Eric Garner
Black people are losing their honor.
But when I look at me
Behind such Blue Eyes, Lye courage yet despised, I loath to be hold, Although beauty so bold. To hear my mother say baby its fine, Is too far gone in time. Behind these blue eyes with filters so divine, Is a girl lost in time.
On which hour on thy social media, thee wilt findeth a miniature of oneself,
But what lie beneath the mask, the true visage?
If thy mask be uncovered, what wilt thou findeth in thyself?
Image- despite your tries,
Despite your cries,
What are you under your makeup?
Image- the fault in society,
That brings tears to your diary,
The sound of a heart breaking.
Image is why-
Just another face in a neamless crowd, no one knows who I am.
They think they've got me all figured out, but they don't know anything.
They think I'm not capable of being anything other than ordinary,
Wake up with make up.
Nobody would like my real face,
So I post pictures of me in lace.
I cover every imperfection,
So you never see my real reflection.
At the end of the day,
The honey hasn’t been sweet in years,but my teeth are still rotting.Mama doesn’t know the half of it.She loves everyone too hardeven if she pretendsshe can’t remember their names.
A mirror only shows what you let it;
It displays an image which eyes can distort.
Most teenagers see a less-than-perfect image,
But the mirror sees truth and perfection.
Brown eyes and light skin
i am the brother of a twin
doing stupid things to fit in
if you live life this way, will you ever win?
mom comes home late so i never see
parents fight so i hold my pee
Here I am, a comedian
Laughing and bright
No one knows that underneath
I have a serious fright
That someone won't think i'm funny
Someone will see
That I am a real person
I am me
You all look my way, but none of you see.
I am the girl no one truly understands.
I have the love of him and Him and them,
but what is it if no one understands?
I cry on his shoulder.
I pray to Him.
One picture, but so many filters,Covering every little bit of realnessand every little bit of happyness,Wanting more and more,Only to recieve less,
One white kid in the whole neighborhood
All my friends spoke Spanish but still I knew the truth
That every one of us wants the same exact thing
To find a safe haven and to have a family
I am a man who likes to rap!
I am a man who takes no crap!
I am a man who is eighteen!
I am a man who is not mean!
I am a man who loves his friends!
I am the man who starts the trends!
Where does it go when the filter fades?
Trying so hard for likes, and a million followers on your page.
But really what's worth all the rage?
I smile in the background. tilt my head when i'm confused. They think they know me, none of them really do. I'm not the girl in the pictures i'm someone who lives two lives as two lives live me. they think that they know me.
Simply
You can see me
Or does one now only see through selfies
That dosen't show me
I care
I am fair
I've done a couple things that a couple others wouldn't dare
Everyone is asking who I want to be.
No one is seeing that I'm already me.
I'm tired of putting up with all the bullshit and lies.
I'm tired of people trying to change me with their cries.
Mama is a Daylight (Inspired by Evelyn Tooley Hunt, by: James Crawford)
When she slips into the room,
She shocks us
Like and electrical power line,
And we wake up amazed.
An introverts haven and a extroverts nightmare. A place where nothing can hurt you but your own thoughts but at the same time all your pain goes towards understanding who you are.Isolate yourself and reflect, isolate yourself and rejoice, isolate
I never liked filters.
They always seemed trashy.
I use them anyway.
I make them work.
Authenticity is scarce.
Though it's still there.
You have to sift.
Will you find anything?
Play
Investigate, lazy
Computer, television, bowling
Average, future, work, paycheck
Working, driving, buying
I was already there, waiting at a brink, looking for a clutch.A thing I could look towards and ask for helpBut within the noise and the frustrationI couldn't find a sign.
What is one without Filters?
One who is bare and natural
Are they the same person
The same person you loved to be around
Filters do not make that much of a difference
If any at all
Could it be?
Freedom at last! Or a mirage
Brought on by a bitter past?
So tired,
So sad,
Lost in the land of “once had”
And fighting, so deeply, for something more.
You look on social media
And what is it you see
It's filters here and there
But all I want you to see is me
I present to you an allegory: life as you know it.
I brave my face to the world, but they don't seem to see it.
It's like their own masks make them blind to everything else.
Hello, I'm the girl who sits in the corner.
Remember me?
Of course not. Why should you give me a second glance?
Quiet, brainy, unassuming
Awkward
Loner
This is what you see. I guarantee it.
I woke up like this,
cranky, sluggish, fuzzy
I woke up like this,
***Flawless
I woke up like this,
tired, cold, makeup smeared,
I woke up like this,
***Flawless
I woke up like this,
#nofilter
brave or lazy?
#nofilter
naturally pretty or ugly?
#nofilter
showing who you are or lying?
Filters are a way of covering up who you really are,
Filters are a way of hiding
I am an epileptic schizophrenic
with the magnetic charm
of a younger Tom Selleck;
I am a rampaging bafoon
who jumps before he leaps
to his impending—
Doom, Doctor Doom, he who looms
I was not meant to be a thing made of plain happenings and I am more, made up of manyunfolding, shrinking, expanding breaths
BreakawayThis illusion I've seen in my expressionless faceMirrored hate at a being that doesn't have words, and never existed outside cruel minds that ought to have been left behind
You look at the picture and you see what's there.
You get lost in her smile, her completion, her hair.
Her dark eyeliner brings out the brown in her eyes and her eyebrows are perfectly shaped.
So, yeah you can find my pictures on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat but you can see me in person and be looking at a whole different person. In those pictures, I look happy, new, beautiful, and confident.
They say,
“You can’t say that”
They say,
“Don’t talk like that; not about that”
They wish to filter me.
I will not be filter,
I will not stay hush-hush,
I will speak my mind,
Who am I?
hardest question I've had to answer,
I tell you what I want to be,
and as I think hat isn't me.
As I look at myself I know I don't need no help,
Im the goofy looking kid with the curly hair,
People think filters are bad but but they're not
filters keeps a good young girl from becoming a thot
they keep our nasty parts inside
protect us like bear hide
and keep us from getting shot
I am young and not nearly done,
What could I become?
Thoughts whirled,
Anything possible in this world.
My imagination works day and night,
I am like a knight.
My pencil is my sword,
In the mirror I can see,
Without a doubt of certainty
Someone that's just trying to be--
To simply be,
And that is all we need to be.
I am a college student I am a hard worker I am a woman who remains persistent even when her goals end up in failure still I push.Who doesn't have a porcelain face
Take a PICTURE. It's worth a thousand words.
Add a FILTER. Now its a lie.
Keep it in NORMAL. It looks beautiful.
Press KELVIN. Looks similar to 1977.
Please, No Filters...
Some label me as an hippie because of my passion for love or a daydreamer because of all the wishes and prayers for peace.
Youre a disappointment
You're a failure
Youre a disgrace
The connotations that I ponder
When those are the words they say
I guess it doesn't even matter that I got straight A's
#nofilter, cowarding at the bottom of some random girl's pic, yet the image itself speaks otherwise, producing something
I am a lone wolf when it comes to decisions but there is time for a pack
With the filter what you see is the ruler of discomfort
The queen of the damned, a social bone crusher
Children:
Are innocent
Are naive
Are silly
I am a child.
Not really.
I'm eighteen.
Too old to be a child.
But I am.
Believe me.
Flannel shirts, sweaters, well kept.
those are the words people used to describe me today
I'm not always so elequent
A messy bun and a haze of cigarette smoke are my ideal state
I feel beautiful
But I'm not
I want the attention
But I don't
I am someone
I am not
If I was myself you wouldn't like me
But I'll never truly know
what has our world come to?
Have we lost the sense of natural beauty?
We filter our photos to appear different
Small with a big attitude
Accompanied by an even bigger mouth
A sweet, loving smile
that will quickly turn into a pout
Kind of boy crazy... okay maybe a lot
Can't blame me, I mean some are quite hot.
I'm very into makeup,
Taking on different looks,
But behind the coverup,
Theres a different girl,
Less confident than all,
But in a shy confident way
Regrets and shame
Moments that will never be the same
There is no rewind button
No delete
No fast-forward or a pause
This society breathes and lives through computerized chips surgically dug into our brains
Staring into my reflection is a daunting one
I see a girl with too much mascara,
that she liberally applied to impress people who couldn’t care less
I see a girl with a broken smile
Hi there, this is the real me.
Not the smart, energetic, and lovable person you know.
But, the person behind the curtain,
the one I don't show.
The real me is lazy,
The story of his life has been a constant struggle
So many problems and responsibilities that he's been forced to juggle
Everything he's had to do it was by himself
Your beautiful just the way you are
There us no need to wear makeup
Don't fake it up
Just the way you are
You shook the world up
Because your are beautiful just the way you are
I listen to my music full blast,
I don't except last,
I'm tough,
But not too rough,
I feel others pain,
I feel insane,
I a nerd,
Kinda wana be bird,
Just escape it all,
Two broken souls, two halves of a whole. Two different footprints, on paths that barely cross. It’s hard to believe the things that we see…
If I were a recipe,
I would be made up of mostly self critism and doubt with a pinch of failure.
Never adding up to anything more than a meal at McDonald's.
Something fast and easy,
I tilt my head up, it reflects the light better.
Followed by the caption, carefully typed letter by letter.
Should I use Valencia? it makes me look tan.
This will definately get me famous, every "like" is a fan.
You are Perfect being you Be crazy, be happy, be full of imagination Dont hide behind filters, show the real you Embrace those moles, those scars, let your flaws run free
My hair is brown and short and curly
My lips are big and sort of pink
My teeth are slightly moved forward
But that doesnt mean I am less of a person
My forehead is full of dark spots
Filters change our looks
Through this, they hide our true soul
Forcing conformed life
I'm just tryna get to know you tonightI'm sure there's a lot of things on your mindAnd people you inspire? See the connections I have with people is not my desireFor the things I aspire
Click, click, click goes the camera,
Showing all of me whe I first wake up.
I see someone beautiful staring back at me,
As she is lying down with her hair tangled and no makeup.
It doesn’t matter
If I’m opened or closed.
There are no discrepancies
In the work that I do.
I always see both sides
For what they really are.
Never do I have to worry
Raised by a strong woman as my example,
Influence and guidance have always been ample.
There have been struggles to find my path and my way,
Often times changing direction each day.
I am me
under these clothes
behind those filters.
I am me.
No bright light to make my picture brighter.
No filter to make me lighter.
I am me.
Who am I with all these unspoken words?
The me without a filter is just like anyone else.
Full of fear and regrets, maybe even a few insecurities.
But the me without a filter is not always seen.
The first time I traveled with my high school volleyball team I felt danger in the back of my mind when we drove by a pet hospital.
I am not defective
I am simply me
I have many phases
Like the moon above the sea
And craters in my face as my brother likes to say
I am not picture perfect
But when I smile
I put on my make-up and pick out my shoes;
the perfect pair to match my shirt.
Because that was what I was taught to do
In a World where looks are what seem to work.
They say my hair is much too short
A child of Suess and a daughter of grace,
in this whimsical world I was kindly misplaced.
On an island of misfits I took to my tongue,
like the martyrs had spoken my brilliance begun.
I was that girl, who weighed more than she should've.
Who wore glasses and braces to make my appearance even more bitter.
I was the girl who was always "just a friend", because my face was naked, curly hair on my head.
Selfies are a new world craze
and with those selfies comes those filters.
Without that stuff I aint no Average Joe,
The world is a mistress of beautiful things
But the harsh reality is
It also holds ugly things
And we have ugly people posing as beautiful people
And they press the buttons
Leaving the rest of us in poverty
you are quiet
you are odd
you are smart
You do not know me.
I am a one-of-a-kind girl
Dedicated to exploring the world
Bettering myself
Succeeding
Journeying
When I put a picture up on facebook,
I strive for people to see I'm happy,
I hide all the stress,
Pretend there's no pain,
and act like it's everything okay.
I don't use a filter,
and I don't use vignette,
Who knows the real me?
If I look deep inside,
I know I can find
The real me even if I am truly blind.
I let the words get to me.
Knowing they are not true,
But even though my eyes are blue
The loss of sleep can be seen hanging under my eyes
Concealer can't do a thing despite how hard I try
The cover up can't cover up what's lying inside
Eyeliner and mascara running on my laugh lines
When no one sees my beauty
I see perfect flaws
The way my eyes or shaped
The way they shine with wisdom
I see freckles that are uncommon
Her eyes are blue
Her eyes are bright
Her lips are flawless too
And her hair is just right
Her nails are long and thin
Her nose is a perfect width
Her skin is considered perfection
I think of all the things I think is wrong with me. My acne, my eyebrows don't look alike, I don't have a flat stomach, my hair isn't long and luscious, I'm too plain in my clothes. I think: "I am flawfull".
My name is Morgan
Without a filter I am normal
Without a filter my teeth are gray
Without a filter my eyes are just okay
Peers would describe me as pretty
But that's just the filter, really
I no longer have the desire to impress and feel the stress
That a society has created to only make me feel repressed
My being was not created to be superficial
But only beautiful without the artificial
What even gave Rise to the Instagram filters?
I'll bet some Earlybird got up one day,
But when looking for OJ, he saw only Amaro liqueur.
A Capricorn under Saturn
Ambitious, natural like earth's soil
Beautiful without effects and powders
Humble, do tumble, I mumble under my breath
waiting to be discovered
I prefer natural beauty over the help of filters any day but:This is how my life looks without a filter to make it brighter.
No filter and no makeup, I feel naked
It's hard to admit, I'd rather fake it,
Pretend like I'm okay,
With the small acne scars on my face,
The way all my hairs don’t naturally fall into place,
Without make-up such as foundation, mascara,lipstick,eyeliner,eyeshadow and eyebrow pencil, makes me flawless.The chemicals in these products ruin my natural look. Having make-up on is like wearing a mask.
I'm a shitty photographer
no way around it
They all come out the same
tilted to left, skewed and half-hazard
No gels, lights, editing, or daggers can make an image of mine appealing
inward or outward
Who is me beyond what they see
Doing what I can for the perfect selfie
Lip gloss on, hair curled slightly
Making sure my imperfections is unsightly
Who is to say who is me
Who is me beyond what they see
Adopted at birth, I now know the truth.
I figured it out, you could say I'm a sleuth.
Friendly and happy, a sweet shy kind of guy.
Describes my essence and I'l try to show why.
Without Filters, her voice is heard and understood
Without Filters, She's not depicted as a slut trying to get attention
But as just a teenage girl hanging out with friends or at her local library-
The way that others see me
Is not the way I should be
I am not a black and white filter
I am a dork,
I am silly,
I am beautiful without makeup.
I have a heart of gold,
I am smart,
I am a hardworker.
Without a filter,
I am all these things,
And I love it.
When I smile,
my sunlight-struck, amber sap eyes crinkle into crescent moons,
adding to my nickname of "goody two shoes."
When I raised my hand in class to admit I had done standards in elementary,
they gasped.
Before I had a smart phone
when i had a stupid one
i would take pictures
if you could call them that
more like fuzzy blobs
with a lack of a better filter
before the insta
Behind bright white smile,
is a someone not worth while,
behind my uncontrollable laughter,
is someone who wants to be happier,
behind all the pics,
is someone who makes me sick,
behind what you see,
I am
Many things.
I am blonde.
I am tall.
I am smart.
Sure...
I am those things.
But you know what else?
I am other things too.
I am things that you don't know.
I am fat.
WIthout the filters,
Without the perfect lighting,
Who is that girl?
She looks hidden by makeup
Or the facade of social media,
But who is that girl?
The lighting has to be perfect, tilt this way like that
I have to get my hair right, perfect in the back
I need to be beautiful by the majority at least
I need to look like someone, someone other than me
When the clouds clear and the curtains are drawn,
you get to witness the person that is truely beyond.
No glitz, no glamor, nor artificiality present
what you see is honestly-just me.
I am a venomous snake in the tall grass
Waiting to strike and kill those who pass
Acid is weak compared to me
That corrodes and decays peace and glee
Smooth skin,
Thin waist,
This is who I want to be.
Crop the image,
Add a filter,
And there it is; the new me.
See the smile?
See the hapiness?
Yeah, everyone knows me as that blonde girl with the perfect body that's never missed a church service,
Or an opportunity to help the needy.
Perfect grades and a high G.P.A., nothin'n acceptance letters.
College kids party.
I don't.
Isn't that enough?
Loner,
describes me.
From parents,
from friends,
from doctors.
I'm not.
I dream.
I act.
Behind the pictures you'll find it all
You'll find fear and hurt
We act like everythings perfect,
But behind the picture you'll find it's not.
You see what we want you to
Smiles and happiness,
Though the world is turning without stopping
people stop in the middle of the street daily to take a little selfie.
Whether it be for Istagram, Facebook, or twitter
you have to make sure you look perfect without posting.
Sometimes you have to reflect
Look back to the past
Take a trip down memory lane
Pop some Advil because there will be pain
Close your eyes and start
What's the first image that crosses your mind?
True beauty, something I wish I'd seen more,
So sue me, something I don't look to screens for.
The true me, not afraid to stand for dreams or
the new me, something the old me would fiend for.
I am that poor girl
whose waning hope
gave birth to passion
Or perhaps I am a pupeteer
with a marionette by the name of
"Semantics"
Some days I am the crisp morning drizzle
I've only been authentic on paper
Never have I spoken a filter-less word
or acted in a genuine way.
It dawns on me now
how little the face I was born with
is associated with the person cultivating inside me.
You cannot quell me
I am a one-man revolution
Built like a scorpion,
Indestructable--
You can freeze me
But I'll eventually
Come to,
Breaking free from the ice in a frigid
Frenzy,
I am hardworking and peseverant
I wonder what life has to offer in the future
I hear joy from the breeze through trees
I see rainbows dancing with snowfakes
I want to be helpful to people
Hoping for destination, she
gropes toward brightness,
across spaces like tundras.
I am soft.
Sensitivity is mistaken for weakness
and yet it is the one true strength.
To care, to love, to cry.
I have fought my battles with tears in my eyes
But I won the war.
I will not be deluded
I will not be covered up or watered down
I will not change the way I look to try to conform to society’s ideas
I am unique
I am a Fertile Woman
No
I am Free
Smart
Small and big
A giant in the mind
A penny in person
I am an athlete of the brains race
Without anything to cover us from the real world
We will show people our true colors
Who we are, really
What we are, actually
Many are afraid to do this
To show the Demon hidden behind the mask
My need for adventure is a must
To try new things and to adjust
More memories is key
To feel alive and free
No adventure in life is unjust
Behind the curtain everybody sees,
a light so bright that cannot be reached,
An eternity full of shame,
Lies, resentment, and carelessness,
All so young yet so dark,
It used to be great,
The world tried to filter me,
To screen me before I came.
They told me, "This is what we want to see,
Please disguise your ugly pain."
"No one likes a whiner," they'd say,
I've learned to enjoy these walks alone
Breathing in the cool, crisp Autumn air.
With each breath I am renewed.
Alone with my thoughts I realize
How beautiful the leaves are,
How majestic the trees are,
I may not be a 4.0 student,
But I am very pudent,
I take rigorous classes,
Even though i do not wear glasses.
#nofilter
“No Filter” you say, as I read the screen
It’s simply written, yet harder than it seems.
Filters are hidden, but omnipresent through life
And without our awareness, they’re becoming our vice.
To describe me, you would have to think of the ultimate geek, without the look
I'm the type of guy that loves to play football, but also read a manga book
I love to run, and run. till my lungs feel like they're gone
I am not like the others.
I am not just another soul.
I have a heart just like the rest,
but it's beat is all its own.
Social media and concern for self-image has created an insane craze,
Look at me,
What do you see?
A girl, definitely no size three.
Speak to me,
What do you hear?
A christian girl that's got no fear.
Yell at me,
What do I say?
Nofilter or filter to the world?
You say nofilter to show your natural beauty
or to show the world you need validation?
Nofilter shows power
Nofilter shows strength
Nofilter shows insecurity
Reckless,
Constantly crossing accomplishments off of my bucket list,
As I sit at my dining room table writing this,
When did "what filter should I use?" become a real question?
Is natural lighting not enough?
The real beauty is in your eyes,
Not in the tint of the screen.
Guess I don't get it
as I get all the credit.
I get I'm the President,
but without me really trying,
GLOW UP getting it's own article
made mom so proud-
"You look crazy,
I like that"
Is it because
My hair is the shade
Of the calm before the storm
Or because my nerves show
On every inch of my body
I have no poker face
Thank you,
It’s always the mirror that breaks you,
your unforgiving glass reflection.
You will never notice
the unique glint in your eyes
when you discover something new,
nor the way your rare smile
Who am I?
Look, I know who I’m not
I’m not some hot shot, not a cheerleader, not one of those students that acts like a teacher, not a nerd, I think all these cliques are absurd
Where do I fit in?
