Repeat the Flesh in Numbers

by Kris Bigalk

Daring, contemplative, witty, and moving, the poems in Kris Bigalk’s debut collection Repeat the Flesh in Numbers unflinchingly examine human frailty from multiple perspectives, and ultimately arrive at a place of generosity, regeneration, and grace. The musical precision and vivid images invite us in to poetry that surprises, inspires, and haunts, reminding us that what we do to ourselves, and to each other – and what we do for ourselves, and for each other, is ultimately what defines us.

Genres: Poetry

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Kris Bigalk is the author of Repeat the Flesh in Numbers, a poetry collection; a free reader's/teacher's guide is available at http://krisbigalk.com. Her poetry has appeared in The WaterStone Review, the cream city review, The New York Quarterly, Silk Road, and other journals. She lives near Minneapolis, where she serves as Director of Creative Writing at Normandale Community College.

Reviews

[John Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kris writes with intellect as well as refreshing raw power. Her poems are first personal, as though she has some demons she must expunge, but they also reached me in unexpected ways. For example, her poem entitled The Convent Letters, a series of imagined correspondence, describe a world quite rich though spare in description, and familiar to any reader of Dickens, "They call one nun Mother, but/her eyes are cold with Jesus/when she looks at me." Kris uses her breaks, and the white space that follows to grand effect, that "but' hanging in the first line drive me on with increasing interest. When released, our narrator writes, "let loose/in the world like a ghost/with no address, no memory." While obviously not auto-biographical, her voice is so strong through these poems, that her personality bursts through even from the convent.

[Dang Ole' Dan Can Dangle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this through a Goodreads giveaway.

Whereas novels can be looked at with a mix of objectivity and subjectivity, poetry, for me, is mostly (if not completely) a subjective experience.

Certain people enjoy certain poems and certain people don't. I doubt I will ever read a poetry collection in which I understand/like/relate-to every poem; no matter how many times I read and re-read. I think only the author of a poetry collection can claim that they do. That being said, I did enjoy the majority of poems in Repeat the Flesh in Numbers.

And the poems I liked, I really liked. Topical focus can go from humor to sadness to happiness in just a few pages, yet never upsetting the pace of a read-through.

You can tell that a lot of the author's life and personality lurk in these poem's words, which is a good thing. Her writing is highly poetic, but not in the stereotypical way. Each poem isn't ridden with a bunch of cheesy similes, nay, rather you will find well crafted and well spoken poems.

I must add that the photo on the cover is quite beautiful and really suites the contents.

It appears that as of now I am the first person to rate this anything less than a 5. I hate to break the streak but for me it just falls short of a 5.

Very much worth the read.

[Elizabeth Austen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The gorgeous cover of REPEAT THE FLESH IN NUMBERS sends an accurate signal about the centrality of the body in these pages. Bigalk's poems are frank and unsentimental, with vivid imagery to convey felt experience, as in "Insomnia":

Tiny bones, those splinters
that form wrist, thread together foot,
little pins that hold flesh
like fabric and batting, a quilted body.
These calcium shards betray and sting,
they ache with age, say my name
while I sleep, until I wake, say
hush, hush.

Elsewhere, her voice is immediate, knowing and sassy, her vision clear-eyed but never cynical, even when skewering various mythologies about women in poems like "Apocryphon of Eve" or "Mother America."

Motherhood is a central theme here, considered from many angles, moods and phases of exhaustion and elation. The brief and moving narrative of near-death and its aftermath in "Aren, Two Years Old, Playing at Orchard Park" is not to be missed.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bigalk's debut book of poetry listens deeply to the stillness of domestic life and finds beauty, humor, and sadness in turn. This book is brilliantly able to change its mood: first a funny revenge poem about planting hot peppers to rid a garden-raiding squirrel of his temptation, then a serious poem about a friend's drowning of another pest squirrel. The poems in this book listen to the heartbeats of children as well as the laughter of the trees in the backyard; they balance the persona's internal thoughts with the external demands of a busy woman's life.

Bigalk's work is fresh in its honesty and lack of pretension. Her language is clear and pure. The sensitivity of the poet lurks behind every poem, every artistically described moment. This book could only have been written by someone with a keen mind, an open heart, and a wicked sense of humor.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of poetry that is skillfully written with clarity and depth. I usually read poetry books one poem per night, but I devoured these poems in two straight nights. Bigalk's poems resonate with a feminist point that deftly negotiates culture and class with a view that is insightful and instructive to both female and male genders. I feel I'm a better man for having read these poems. Repeat the Flesh in Numbers is prerequisite reading for persons striving to become more empathetic human beings. The word choice and arrangement sing gorgeously. Bigalk, behind many revealing personas, is a clever, clever poet.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of poems was written by a former Professor and a woman that I still hold in high regard. I have never been a big poetry reader myself but after taking a class with her I find I can appreciate poetry at last and it is this knowledge that as helped me see the beauty in her poems.

We are born shivering
wishing back the damp warm dream
the pounding of a heart
deep rumbling ruminations ~Incarnation

I loved the above poem the most. I like the way it flows.

[Lauren]

This was written by someone in my Poetry group.

[Luz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this on First Reads!
Kris's poetry is amazing. The topic and style of each poem varied, but I think she pulled each of them off beautifully.

[Richard Train · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear - The lady, her words and mind are impressive.