Matters for You Alone

Matters for You Alone isa spiritual exploration of friendship: its shapes and duties, stresses andblames—and its absolute necessity. The book takes its title fromJean-Pierre de Caussade’s classic, Abandonment to Divine Providence, asit strives to interpret everyday encounters and events—the domestic, themundane—in light of the eternal.

Powerful and powerless—madeperfect in weakness—the 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: “We’re taught to love / by someone—a series of them— // each seekinga brief shelter / as the spirit searches / for more capacious / seas—.”

A friend holds a specialstatus—not 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 we’ve receivedinstruction, correction, inspiration, and joy.