A Personal Dictionary of Meaning

By the end of high school a human being should possess something simple

and almost forgotten Not a résumé Not a transcript Not a collection of other people’s

conclusions But a dictionary Not the dictionary Their dictionary A quiet,

personal system of words chosen slowly defined carefully spoken inwardly

before they are ever spoken aloud Because language is not decoration Language

is the shape of thought moving gently through the mind And if you do not

choose your words your words will choose you A real dictionary is not a list

it is a map A map of meaning drawn over time through attention through use