Perception Spring 2023

on planet anxiety
Katherine "Katya" Nikolau
you see me through with x-ray vision, then turn away with burning
retinas. it’s all rubble and red here, and i don’t chase after you
because i know there’s no use. back on earth, you and i swim
through a wegmans, arms linked, and you can’t find the fruit gusher
gummies you want. not everything can be perfect. not everything
can be perfect but i still only show you the final draft of myself,
hoping you don’t notice all these erase marks. there’s a warmth to
you that makes everything else feel synthetic. my life holds nothing
to complain about, but i still do, so much, and i can’t stop. i’m turning
around in a room of funhouse mirrors, seeing nothing but myself and
myself and myself until the nausea sets in. these are the things i don’t
tell you. i only tell you that i love you, and then tell myself that nothing
else matters because i mean it. here’s a story i like that i keep telling
myself: we met each other and it was really beautiful. nothing ruined
it. a year later, i came back to your parents’ house and the dogs still
licked my face.
36 | Perception
Passage of Time
Hannah Landon | Acrylic & China Marker, Cardboard
Spring 2023 | 37