Secret Kitty
by Catherine Daly
Toronto: Ahadada Books, 2006 (forthcoming April 2006)
78 pp., ebook.

“When inspiration strikes, use that energy to make something. Create a work that gives other people something to think about.”—Catherine Daly

Throwing words at the page in avant garde exuberance, hyperreal and exotic imagery profuse, wild splashes of color and light, an olla podrida both clashing and harmonious, gives us more than a bit to think about. Into this world of alchemical wordplay we are thrown without as much as a life preserver, thrashing desperately for solid footing. But finding solid footing is not only a big mistake but the gravest of errors. For awash in this world where associative thought holds sway our minds are more attune and alive than ever to the splendors presented us by Catherine Daly.

And this is a poet who has gone round the full circuit of expression, going from nihilistic and expansive in 2003 on DaDaDa to somber and reflective in 2005 on Locket then settling uncomfortably in 2006 on her current offering Secret Kitty. Why uncomfortable? To paraphrase the lady herself, “Reviewers really haven't enjoyed the word play or the erotic bits.” This reference refers not just to her latest effort, but to all three volumes mentioned in this review.

When this reviewer first made the acquaintance of Catherine Daly, he was as unfamiliar with her work as a baby is unfamiliar with Rimbaud. In the interest of serving her best, he found it expedient to acquire all of her poetic publications, thus offering a fully formed opinion. Having formed his opinion he is prepared to offer just that in praise of a daring, adventurous, undaunted wordsmith as she peels back layer upon layer inside and out to arrive at the “truth” of her perspective. And having taken up the art and craft of perspective she found three dimensions far too limiting, opting instead for a fourth dimension:  negative space, space around an object or form.

In her latest venture, Secret Kitty, she begins by showing the reader how to create the symbolic representation of the title, “equal sign caret period period caret equal sign.” Following these directions will produce the secret kitty: =^..^=. Yet this is a red herring, a smoke screen, a dissimulation. The uncovering of the "true" secret kitty involves much assimilation of the joys and splendors contained within the masterful pages of this volume.

True to her nihilistic beginnings, she approaches each page as a blank canvas, swirling and spinning and layering image upon image even evoking the name of Georges Braque as she invents perhaps the first cubist poem. 

Best advice: Purchase this e-book, purchase all three of her books and any more that arrive as they surely must; for it is a rare moment indeed when a reviewer recognizes true genius in an artist and steps away awestruck to the point of blasphemy.

Author

The Dalys, a family founded in 1963, designed Catherine Daly in 1966. She was introduced on January 28, 1967 (thus she is an Aquarius), though her name and biography are continually expanded.

She is a fifteen year post-grad living in the center of Los Angeles, CA, USA. Catherine Daly currently uses Olson twins hair glaze purchased at the 99 cents only store, while her sister, Elizabeth Daly, exercises more discretion.

While they started out wearing nothing, Catherine wears vintage or used couture, while Elizabeth wears modish new clothes. They live a mile from each other, but 2,000 miles from Dad Tom Daly and Mom Joyce Daly. Their Uncle and Aunt are nearby in Pasadena, and their Great Aunt is near the Daly parents. ("Kasia" is a nickname, and the source of the appellation is a maternal Polish relative, not a paternal Irish one.) Catherine is about 20 apples high and weighs about the same as 50 apples, and she has type A+ blood. She is a cookie baker, although her Great Aunt is a renowned pie expert and Catherine’s favorite snack is dark chocolate. Like her mother, she sort of plays the piano. Her favorite color is red; her favorite school subjects are english, math, and music.

With Elizabeth and childhood friend Therese Heimbold, Kasia became acquainted with small items such as coin purses with Kitty on them around the time of the bicentennial, in central Illinois.

"Why doesn't Hello Kitty have a mouth?"

"Hello Kitty speaks from her heart. She is Sanrio's ambassador to the world who isn't bound to one certain language."

Why does Catherine write? She published DaDaDa with Salt Publishing in 2003; that trilogy has now become the first portion of a long project entitled CONFITEOR. Tupelo Press published Locket in 2005.

Life for CB Smith began in a southern part of the northern hemisphere where the heavy misted skies threatened to strangle him in swamps of crocodile infested feculent. Abandoned at birth by Trotskyite revolutionaries he was picked up by a wild crazy eyed trader and transported to a remote Indian jungle where he was raised by a band of itinerate lion-tailed macaque monkeys trying to write Hamlet using IBM Selectric Typewriters. Thus began his life. His essays and surreal fiction have been published in various worldwide e-zines and magazines. His novel/memoir/treatise Still Life With Psychotic Squirrel will be available through Six Gallery Press, Summer 2006.