#OnlyFilters

Daughter, sister, friend, student, classmate,

I am composed of a series of filters

a friendly greeting at an Italian restaurant

the scary senior walking down the hall

four years of college tuition

employee #0675

a burrito buddy

the girl next door

audience seat #V42

the dancer third from the left

another English paper to grade

“the owner of a 2012 silver Toyota Prius”.

I can be a mirror, reflecting qualities back unto the viewer

Or a transparent window, a peek into the unfamiliar

Innumerable layers like a festive dance of light through stained glass

Morphing like the fragmented image in a kaleidoscope

From viewer

to viewer

to viewer

There is no “One Me”

So why do we spend our days darkening our eyes and shrinking our waistlines

To change the way we are seen

The way we are respected

When in reality, we are all blank screens onto which the world projects its own interpretation

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why then, must I endlessly alter my photo?