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perhappened mag
issue 1: CARNIVAL

them losing is winning for me

KENLEIGH GILBERT
They cover me 
with dust
and pinstripe sheets
and a diagnosis as to why
I am considered 
mismatched and different.
I am watching 
painted new faces arrive,
and greet
and pay-to-play
while I decay in the realization
that I am unlike them.
I function differently
from all that is here,
my mechanisms must work 
their way,
or else they think
they do not work at all.
There is a nod, an acknowledgement
from those who stare me down
while I look between their eyes,
or at their forehead,
just to avoid the unknown.
They only want to make a spectacle of me
as they try and shoot at my target
for some lackluster prize
that I will never let them win.

Kenleigh Gilbert is a 19 year old writer from the western region of North Carolina, near the lovely city of Asheville. She is a traveler, animal lover, and proud Aspie. She can be found on Twitter as @bookitschken, and on Instagram as @a.smile.from.a.veil.
perhappened mag
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header photo: tokyo luv (unsplash)
​

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  • the mag
    • the issues
    • submit to the mag
  • the press
    • the chapbooks >
      • CALIFORNIA IS GOING TO HELL
      • body in motion
      • sun of daedalus / song of anticlea
    • submit to the press
  • support us