i'm not perfect

and neither are you.

but maybe the first step towards getting the right view of ourselves

is to stop putting just our filtered face forward

and pretending that we are.

maybe that's why no one can take compliments anymore:

because we know that's not really us on the iPhone screen.

how do we know if anyone would like us without X-Pro II

covering up our reality?

but what if they did?

what if we disappeared from instagram

snapchat

kik

facebook,

ditched the filter and posted the image of our trust selves

on the wide, wide web of the world,

ripped the duct tape from our mouths that society plastered on at birth

and told them how we really felt

without a filter.

and what if they loved us,

more than 12 likes on a selfie?

i'm not perfect,

and neither are you.

we aren't meant to be.

we are supposed to burn so much brighter,

brand our image onto the souls of those who observe us,

shut down the social media with our intensity,

break the filter.

i don't need a hashtag to be found,

or a filter to be seen.

in my purest,

unedited form,

i am the filter.

the world runs through my veins

and comes back through my lips

brighter

realer

stronger

for having known me.