A Different Lens

• Chloe Ferreira, Grade 11, Hornsby Girls High School
• Poetry
• 2021

Excellence Award in the 'Play On Words 2021' competition

Everyone looks at the world through a lens, one that obscures your view.
So, you see at most half the story, And the other you never knew.
Our experiences, the places we go, each one the same or merely a game.
But in a different lens, only the name and the photo frame stay the same.
I used to live in a fairytale, believed that I was a princess.
A world of perfection and certainty, one that did impress
But a long time has passed since then, and though only a teen
I stay quiet and wipe myself clean, of emotions that shouldn't be seen.
Forever disappointing those who try convince me life's worth living.
But maybe in another life, for this one is unforgiving.
Maybe my lens is anxiety,
Maybe that's how I see life.
But amidst the questions and confusion
My head and my heart are in strife.
For is being alive, simply, enough to call it living life?