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To Nick, On Entering His Teens
Itıs a big deal entering your adolescence,
though not everybody is sure what it means.
Take Websterıs New World Dictionary, for instance:
Fr (L adolesens, prp. of adolescere, to come to maturity, be kindled, burn)
adalescere (ad, to+ alescere , to increase,
grow up )(alere , to feed, sustain, akin to OE ald [see old] ,
(Goth alan,) to grow --while Le Robert, the standard
French dictionary, says that it is different
for boys and girls; girls it says, are adolescents
from 12 to 18 while boys from 14 to 20. So the question is:
Are you or arenıt you? But thatıs part of the point;
itıs an in between time when youıre not
really sure about anything. It s something about
coming to maturity with the accent on coming,
beginning but not there yet. Best is the idea of ³kindling,²
starting a fire and burning, burning with all kinds of fire,
Feeding is good too, there are a lot of yearnings and hungers to feed in
adolescence. By now you must have guessed that
I like the word adolescent better than
teen-ager which brings to mind teenie-weenie.
Itıs a big deal entering your adolescence,
Nothing teenie about it.
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