Bzzzzzzzzzzzz…gone! Years of old memories, a tangled mass of chemically tormented dead cellulose, a dry pile of old me, fallen to the bathroom floor and carried out with the trash.

1. My head, my body, my spirit feel lighter. Passing a mirror i catch the sun glowing through my backlit ears. What hair is left is a patchwork of chile-pepper and salt. I look kind of like a boy, it is true—all that tortured femininity gone with one sweep of the clippers. But it’s ok. I feel light, and my eyes look very alive.