Die subtitel dui reeds op die belangrikste afskeid, verganklikheid, die dood. Katalekte vorm 'n drieluik met sy vorige twee bundels, Die windvanger en Die beginsel van stof. Aards én liries, sintuiglik én abstrak, eenvoudig én kompleks, onthutsend én teer. Die boek sluit 20 afbeeldings in kleur in.
Breyten Breytenbach was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of the National Party-led South African Government. He is also known as a founding member of the Sestigers, a dissident literary movement, and was one of the most important living poets in Afrikaans literature.