A part of me is dead. Now
I can shake my own hand,
meet myself again for the first time.
How my fingers feel to one another, strangers,
for a tingling moment, I am another.
Promise? This time will be different.
From the poem The Yearner.

An intense, impressive debut, My Darling from the Lions is a raw exploration of identity, gender, race, culture, survival, sex, motherhood, class, and family - which seems to just about cover human existence in general but Long gives each of these themes a moment to blaze on the page, momentous and unique to her. I loved the way Long had recurring images and symbolism, showing them in different lights to keep the reader's perception constantly shifting with the poems, for instance the way she uses an apple, which I thought was very clever.

There's a lot to admire in this collection - I didn't love all of the poems and some of them felt out of place, but, overall, My Darling from the Lions is a stunning debut and I think Rachel Long has a lot of potential.

Favourite Poems
Night Vigil
8
Apples
The Yearner
Mum's Snake
Jail Letter
Red Roof
Communion
Holiday Album
steve