Looking at a photo

Of myself I see,

Someone ordinary

Someone just like me.

When I look in the mirror,

I’ll be honest and say

There’s a lot I would change,

I wish it every day.

But without the fancy filters

That hide reality away,

I am left with just myself,

And maybe that’s okay.

I’ve never been a beauty,

Turning heads like a top.

But who I am is something more,

Something censors cannot stop.

Filters form a fantasy,

Of which I never truly feel.

Fantasies can quickly fade,

But what’s in my heart is real.

I am not perfect.

In my imperfections I am free.

I have begun to learn

Beauty isn’t always what we see.

Shirk the filter and its mask,

Forgo the edits and I find,

The truth of myself,

The brightness of my mind.

It is this beauty people oft forget,

This is what it’s about.

To take comfort with our self,

Find beauty inside and out.

In the end I can say,

With clarity of integrity,

I can grow to fully see

Who I am, who I’ll be.

With this freedom I can grow

To love imperfect me,

The one embracing reality,

That is who I see.