Wild Thing

by Shaelynn Long

We love to hate feral women. We say they’re too much of everything, not-so-subtly requesting that they minimize themselves, their voices, their existence. Rather than uplifting the characteristics that make them fierce and loyal protectors, we push them into the smallest of roles. Instead of watching in awe as they tackle the most difficult aspects of life, we ignore them. When faced with the harsh truths of their lives, we silence them.

I am done being silenced. I am done being ignored. I want to live my truths.

wild thing is an exploration of the feral nature of human beings, revealing vulnerability, heartache, confidence, and ultimately, what it’s like to be a female-presenting human doing what they need to in order to survive.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm tempted to say something mean like "Robert Lowel's legitimization of confessional poetry was a mistake," but I think that a more productive avenue would be to treat this like it was one of my students' writings. The thing is that everyone starts out writing poetry like this, including myself; the difference is that I didn't self-publish my initial writings, I kept them in their original Google Docs (where they belonged?).

The challenge is how to approach poetry like this in a fair way. To be overly dismissive would miss the point, but so would showering praise on it. I think that this stage of poetry writing is a necessary stage for most new poets to go through. I think that a reality check is appropriate: this sort of thing probably is too therapeutic and cliche-driven to be appropriate for people other than the author to read. But that's okay; this is why journals and diaries exist: a private form of confession or therapy which can purge negative emotions. But to put it into lines and insist it's poetry is to do violence to the definition of poetry (read more about that here).

My main recommendation to Shaelynn is to read more poetry and to imitate those poets. This will help you get out of the rut of writing first person confessional me/you relationship poetry, which is fun and easy to write but not that impressive. Also, it would be worth leaning away from your own tendencies; by that, I mean noticing trends in your own writing and adamantly avoiding them (to make the writing harder on yourself so you must stretch your poetic muscles more); for example, if you notice yourself using "you" and "I" a lot, try writing poetry without using those (it will force you to get more concrete, to write poetry outside of your own subjective experience, etc.).

The main theme of this collection is the concept of "feral", especially in contradistinction to "domesticated" or "good girl" tropes. Ultimately, it smacks of teenage-flavored rebellion against authority and expectations. I use the dismissive label of teenage intentionally, because there are many examples in literature and film about how to rebel maturely (Star Wars, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, etc.); it's a challenging task, because it's so tempting to throw away religion/tradition/authority/norms the moment they cause tension, but the mature approach is to dwell in that tension and learn to differentiate healthy from unhealthy religion/tradition/authority/norms.

I think that the author has the first indications of understanding this nuance in her "contradictory" use of the term "feral." It's sometimes used in a positive way (in a way analogous to minorities reclaiming slurs) and sometimes in a negative way (lamenting the damage done by being 'too' feral, using teeth and claws, etc.). The challenge is to dwell in that tension, to not divinize nor demonize being feral (or being tame!). Both have their time and place, as I think some of these poems show.

My challenge to the author would be to read more than you write for the next few years: absorb the great poets like Sylvia Plath, Paul Celan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Shakespeare, etc., and return to writing when you've experienced/imitated more of their styles. My other challenge would be to learn a healthy hatred of cliche. By cliches, I mean any phrases or idioms which have grown trite or meaningless, such as "kicked the bucket" or "bite the hand which feeds". And to clarify, yes, also avoid even "remixing" these; avoid them entirely! Come up with your own new idioms; that's one of the many beauties of poetry! Have fun with language, and learn how others have had fun in original ways, so you can develop your own style past your current comfortable style.

[Cavak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm dancing between three or four stars, but I decided to round up for funsies.

Simple words yet, like a heat-seeking missile, these poems know where to strike. If it weren't for the overall theme of being brutal and wild, I'd might say that the poems are somewhat lacking in metaphor and wordplay. Long didn't whittle them down to the bone, they're scraped to the marrow cells. Yet the imagery of a suppressed truth, the act of breaking free of social constrictions (which are often in favor of white cisgender men), is there from the start and remains strong throughout. I liked that relentless focus.

I was sorta hoping for more "tearing" so to speak with these poems, more rawness and more unhinged observations from the narrator. It's a delicate balance at the same time. How to present the contrarian opinions without sounding as though it's too "out there" for readers to understand. At least one poem exploring the brutal or bizarre may have added another edge to the book.

Sometimes laying it plain and true is liberating. These sound great when read aloud, and I would like to see Long perform a few on stage someday. I hope that completing this book granted Long a catharsis though; it seemed like it would to me.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.