I had a reluctance to drive on

I had an amounted fear of ridicule

It was like a celestial command

My fear was a tree crashing down on me

I felt dry, dark, and desolate

"Brushed quickly away like dirt under a rug" (15)

I would go around with shyness

Shyness as though I just crashed party

I was "the work of an evil child" (64-65)

Filled with foreboding

Then, "I went in to a state of flight" (134)

I was a strange landscape

But then my heart began to angle

Like the sun in late afternoon

I lost my dark, desolate feeling

I lost my dry and sharp feeling

I tore viciously at my shyness

Tore viciously at my fear of ridicule

No more crying in anguish

Everything changed

Now, no more fear of ridicule

No more reluctance to drive on

No more dry, dark, and desolate feelings

My heart no longer grieved

I'm now beautiful

Like "hundreds of variations of red and silver"

Now I have a burning desire

To be straight and sweet

To have personality, temperament, and uniqueness

I am now a clarity of light

I am beautiful