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.
Repeat the Flesh in Numbers
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
So Tough--and So Tender--an Amazing Book of Poems
21 Mar 2012
By V.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This book is amazing.
As an English teacher, I've read my share of poetry, but few volumes make me cry. This book touched me in an indescribable way.
The poems are hard, fierce, full of passion, but compassion--even tenderness--lies beneath the writer's brutal forays into what it means to be a woman, a lover, a mother, a sister, a daughter.
When Bigalk writes about motherhood, the diapers are full, the child is distant; about love--and empty bottles of cheap vodka. But somehow in each poem, she narrows the focus, moves beyond the surface confusion and pain to zero in on what matters, right now, about the ways we compromise, the ways we rise from the ashes, the way we recognize our own value, our own frailty, and continue to love.
So many, it seems, think of poetry as a luxury, an indulgence, but this book, "Repeat the Flesh in Numbers," is way too brutal, too loving, too much a product of this world, for the self-indulgent.
Be prepared to cheer, to laugh, to cry, to nod your head in recognition. Buy this book--read it, and read again.
As an English teacher, I've read my share of poetry, but few volumes make me cry. This book touched me in an indescribable way.
The poems are hard, fierce, full of passion, but compassion--even tenderness--lies beneath the writer's brutal forays into what it means to be a woman, a lover, a mother, a sister, a daughter.
When Bigalk writes about motherhood, the diapers are full, the child is distant; about love--and empty bottles of cheap vodka. But somehow in each poem, she narrows the focus, moves beyond the surface confusion and pain to zero in on what matters, right now, about the ways we compromise, the ways we rise from the ashes, the way we recognize our own value, our own frailty, and continue to love.
So many, it seems, think of poetry as a luxury, an indulgence, but this book, "Repeat the Flesh in Numbers," is way too brutal, too loving, too much a product of this world, for the self-indulgent.
Be prepared to cheer, to laugh, to cry, to nod your head in recognition. Buy this book--read it, and read again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Poems on the Beauty of Domestic Life
15 Mar 2012
By darklake
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Bigalk's debut book of poetry draws deeply from 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.
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid imagery and the body's felt experience
18 Jun 2012
By Elizabeth Austen
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
