By Louisa Perry-Picciotto, TIWP Student

She is always thinking about that, 
one voice haunted by a thousand layers, 
screaming out “you’re not good enough,”
whispering “do better” in her ears, 
echoing her involuntary thoughts, 
turning them into seemly inspiring words 
that she forces herself to ponder, 
to evolve from. 
But is it really evolving 
or is she becoming the image 
that she wants to see in the mirror, 
the image that’s taken apart 
and tossed away, 
tricking her into believing it’s the perfection,
the excellence, 
the only thing she can be, 
the ideal.
But she can muffle the past 
and tone out the thousands of layers. 
She can evolve from her own voice 
’cause she herself can be a voice 
with a million layers
telling her that “she is trying.”