Michelle Matthews: Complicated warding is a type of lock, one with several moving internal pieces. When I first read those words, I suspected that it would be the title of the collection. I wanted the book to ask certain questions. How do we take care of the most vulnerable among us? What are the things we have tried, and how have they worked? How do we hurt those we are trying to help? What else can we try? People’s intentions may be good, but the warding, the power contained in that process is incredibly complicated. Additionally, warding has multiple meanings. Its definitions include keeping watch over something and turning something away. There are inherent tensions contained in that word.
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