Cathedral of Violets is a 100-page book of poetry and illustrations by NYC-based author Eleanor Bleier. Using wickedly romantic imagery in both her drawings and language, Bleier guides the reader through a deceptively-delicate spate of interlocking verse. \

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IN THE CATHEDRAL OF VIOLETS

i would be that spider eating violets in hell 
lock me up lock me up lock me up 
for seasons long as a child’s 
with pearls of night and pressed petals 
and fairies of the damned 
insistent spirits 
all amongst my dream flowers
i would be an unlikely demon  
sleeping and waking in the cathedral of violets 
red and black and violets
warm blood flowing 
in the spiderweb that sparkles for y-o-u

I've been walking, looking only at the ground, desperately hoping to be married to something I could really hold in my own hands, the way an ant clings to a sip of sweet sugar water, even if it drowns itself in the sweet taste, it's so silly to look for traditions where there's been a fire, it might sting your eyes to consider the sacrifices completed to speak in the same tongue.

How do you preserve yourself? How do you preserve a feeling? Maybe this is a recipe on how to take care of someone else, but maybe this recipe fails every time. No matter what, when you care for a flower, you’re going to be touching dirt.

Cory Feder’s Flower Dust delivers a strong personal narrative about loss: the death of a family member and simultaneously, a romantic relationship. Throughout the pages of this comic, she contemplates the difference between taking care of yourself and someone else. Feder processes her aunt’s suicide, drawing parallels between herself and her kin while navigating a language barrier. She discovers how learning a familial language breaks down distance with someone who has passed to better understand the passing. Concurrently, she develops imagery and a language of self preservation in the wake of a significant breakup. Flower Dust tells a rich story that is heartbreaking, bratty, and inspiring.