“Flourishing….Unexpected” writes Julia Spicher Kasdorf, poet and author of Shale Play about the poetry of Polly Alice. In this new collection, Polly Alice plunges her familiar style of lyrical free verse into dark and stormy dreamscapes where readers will find their way back by the flickering light of folk characters reimagined: Eve, The White Cat, Dorothy of Oz, Red Riding Hood, Gerda & The Snow Queen, and mythical characters from Spring constellation like Boötes, the hunter and shepherd, to tie in what Polly calls the readers’ primitive emotions or our “Mother Natures.” Puss ‘N Boötes is Polly’s third book of narrative poetry and a companion book to her first two collections, Kinlight (2017) and Tea with Alice (2019) both by Flying Ketchup Press.

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​Kinlight: A handful of heartland in these narrative homegrown poems by author and artist Polly Alice – speak with a uniquely deep-rooted voice. What do we need to survive? she asks. “Light, water, and the ability to imagine growth --nothing is more powerful. There is always time to change direction if we believe in walking through over the shards to the other side of the glass.” Polly's lyrical poems explore faith, loss, and the measures taken to become visible: “I will not forget,” she writes. “I am woman, all things began in me.” Ghosts and vapors, flour and light, this collection remain subtle but dives into bone and marrow of women in today’s America. Find her second book, Tea with Alice-- cast in her family’s Midwest Narrative-- for more work by this author.

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“When I wrote these poems 2018-2019 I saw a theme of cats and constellations so I did the artist thing and decided to embrace the connection. To me, the best women's empowerment metaphor for sharing my journey in poetry was in 17th-century folk tales: The White Cat and Puss in Boots. I hope these lyrical stories demonstrate creativity over control, beauty over usefulness; journey over results; acceptance over isolation; and the spirit of intuition and collaboration over it all.

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