The one thing I was good at was winning scholarships and prizes, and that era was coming to an end. — Sylvia Plath

There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice - patched, retreaded and approved for the road.

How did I know that someday — at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere — the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again?

I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.