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.

It was drilled into my conscious
That how I looked and what I said,
Would only get bad responses.
So I did what I thought was best
And I hid behind those filters,
Terrified and oppressed.

They say that filters beautify what is underneath,
But filters only hide what people refuse to see.

So I cut the strings from my body,
I refused to be a puppet of society.
It took a while for me to finally find myself again,
But it was worth it because now I understand.

With me at least
What you see is what you get.
I refuse
To bull**** you.
To lie to you.
To tell you only what you want to hear.
To let you try and change me.

If you cannot handle the fact
That I am not a size 0,
That I love to wear sweats,
That sarcasm is my second language,
That I genuinely care for others,
That I would stand up for those I love,
Then the world has changed you.

I have learned from when I hated myself,
That we are all tainted.
All of our colors and strokes,
Everyone is painted.

They say that filters beautify what is underneath,
But filters only hide what people refuse to see.