Kaleidoscope

A collection and selection of poetry by Ohio-based poet, blogger, and flash fiction author Cat Russell, author of the short story and flash fiction collection The Optimist's Journal of the End of Days. This audiobook is read by the author.

Cat Russell does it again! Her latest poetry collection, Kaleidoscope, swirls and sways through a landscape of fact and fiction, experience and fantasy, while also providing a keen lens into life and living. It whirls the reader into wonder while remaining grounded, insightful and inquisitive. Peer into this volume's eyepiece and let it take you for a spin.

-John Burroughs, U. S. Beat Poet Laureate (2022-2023) and author of Rattle and Numb

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…Today I discovered/what a group of butterflies is called./ Their name is Kaleidoscope,/"

begins the final nine-line stanza of Cat Russell's "Kaleidoscope," a poem sharing her book's title. Its final three lines read, "…the everchanging pattern/ a perfect fusion of shifting compliments:/ the envy of artists, flowers, and clear-blue skies./" Russell's delightfully accessible homage to butterflies is an ideal invitation into her poignant collection of 86 poems. They entice readers to savor every sip of them in a single sitting.

There is something for every palate: from the humor in "Cheapskate Midlife Crisis" and "F-Bombs," to the understated predatory horror in "Servings," to the anticipatory excitement of a thunderstorm in "Foretaste."

Kaleidoscope showcases a writer whose talent is boundless! Cat Russell's poetry is both beguiling and intellectually intoxicating. You'll undoubtedly mark her collection a favorite.

-Sandra Feen,

State of Ohio Beat Poet Laureate (2022-2024)

  *Original hardcover edition of Kaleidoscope published by Venetian Spider Press.