Problems of the Soul and Otherwise by Matthew Duffus

In deeply resonant poetry, Matthew Duffus continually creates an awareness of the contrast between an absence—of youth, music, Arctic ice, luck, faith, and those we loved—and a presence—of mind, hope, wisdom, pleasant memories, and those we love. The poet notes: “When the light changes, I weigh / my options, looking left and right.” He wonders about the ability to “weigh Sunday errands with / the inconvenience of Salvation.” Thus, Duffus reminds readers to seek a needed sense of balance that comforts us when conditions seem chaotic or disconsolate, that blends lessons learned in the past with behavior practiced in the present, and that admirably offers enough courage each day to “begin all over again.”

–Edward Byrne, Editor of Valparaiso Poetry Review

In Problems of the Soul and Otherwise, Matthew Duffus gives us poems with an undertow. Using humor and an always attentive presence, Duffus constructs poems that honor the odd places we find ourselves: when what we love doesn’t jive with what society loves; when we feel deeply the weight of grief about death, climate change, aging, loss; when we realize we are simply ordinary, and it will never be otherwise. The poems approach questions about our very existence, asking, what is it to be a soul inside a body inside this world? How do we navigate the curse and blessing when we “hear/the absence/where music should be?”

–Laressa Dickey, Author of Twang