Matters for You Alone

Matters for You Alone isa spiritual exploration of friendship: its shapes and duties, stresses andblamesand its absolute necessity. The book takes its title fromJean-Pierre de Caussades classic, Abandonment to Divine Providence, asit strives to interpret everyday encounters and eventsthe domestic, themundanein light of the eternal. Powerful and powerlessmadeperfect in weaknessthe speaker in these poems is fractured and dazzling,abject and hurried, courageous and fallen, you and me. At times playful, atothers deadly serious, these poems ask important questions about our friends.What is the lifespan of a friendship and how might we celebrate its glories?How have our friends made us who we are? As Seen in Frescoes Now Effaced saysit this way: Were taught to love / by someonea series of them // each seekinga brief shelter / as the spirit searches / for more capacious / seas. A friend holds a specialstatusnot exactly family, but often with deeper resonances of meaning andresponsibility, and especially, choice. When friendships go wrong, how can wemend and heal? As way leads on to way, how can forgiveness hold the sacredmemory of others and their indelible marks on us? This book is for anyone whowants to reflect on the people in our lives from whom weve receivedinstruction, correction, inspiration, and joy.