Many of the words that David Whyte addresses in these short essays seem familiar. We think we know what "joy," "honesty," and "touch" mean. In the reflections of the British-American poet, these terms gain a new, unexpected brilliance; they begin to sparkle. "Concessions" starts with the word "Alone" and ends with "Anger." We believe we know both terms and consider them rather unpromising. However: "To want to be alone means rejecting a certain hospitality through conversation and turning to another door and another kind of greeting that is not necessarily defined by human vocabulary." And: "In its pure state, anger is the measure of how deeply we are entangled in the world and how vulnerable we become through love in all its details.".