Children should not wear red, a man once told me. Young girls should not wear red. In some countries it is the color of death; in others passion, in others war, in others anger, in others the sacrifice of shed blood. A girl should be a veil, a white shadow, bloodless as a moon on water; not dangerous; she should keep silent and avoid red shoes, red stockings, dancing. Dancing in red shoes will kill you. But red is our color by birth-right, the color of tense joy & spilled pain that joins us to each other.