Summary

"Candor" is comprised of five paragraphs spread across four pages, entitled: "Could 1," "Then 3," "Double 2," "Too," and "Her."

"Could 1" is concerned with freedom and the capacity one has "[t]o tell how things go for" themselves. Carson connects this sense of freedom to "Candor," which "is like a skein being produced inside the belly day after day" — "it has to get itself woven out somewhere." Candor, in simple terms, means to be frank or open — to, in other words, bear one's heart honestly and truthfully. It is this idea of frankness or openness that allows the speaker of "Could 1" to go on to list the various forms this "Candor" can take, particularly when it is paired with the individual doing things for themselves. For example, the speaker writes, "You could whisper down a well. You could write a letter and keep it in a drawer...