Primal Instinct

Animals are so resilient and strong. Their instincts are something to be admired.

I think I saw a video where these puppies (or wolf pups, can't remember) aren't allowed to be touched around these areas because they are radioactive (even if their cute puppies).

I'm a cat person myself. They must sense it in me, because I'm always surrounded by them. Good luck in the comp, Wally!

Thanks Johnny. All animals and different species have strengths. Cats are agile and fast, more fierce than canines in some instances.

This reminds me of the Native American Indian who was telling his grandson that whichever wolf you fed inside you would be dominant.  This feels natural to me, Wally. Very easy to read and Jack London'ish.  

In the spirit of honest critique, I have a few suggestions:

A primitive element [that] dat[ing] back thousands of years,

If you remove 'that' and change the tense from dates to dating, it would pick up more of that delicious 'n' consonance throughout.


Like the call of the wild- suggest an em dash here
[The] untamed spirit rag[ing] to [always be] free.

The em-dash would allow you to remove 'The'; also, replacing 'always be' with remain would add alliteration and consonance of r, as well as the m in untamed.

[And]  in this essence , -- does 'and' really add anything?
Lies a life force [that] yearn[ing] for family,

I'm unsure if 'Lies' is working here. But, if you want to keep it, I suggest altering the tense to yearning.  If you remove it, then I would suggest something along these lines:

In this essence
a life force yearns for family

Protective and caring,
Tended to from the womb on down until maturity.

That second line reads awkwardly to me . . . How about something like -
Tended to from womb thru maturity - thru would add to the consonance of r in from, and assonance of u in maturity.

These primordial impulses: strongly suggest a colon here
To hunt, [to] feed, [to] survive—  suggest em dash here
[To] give chase to our quest without question,

And really suggest losing those bracketed 'to's.


It’s the natural drive [that] pushes [forward] beyond boundaries,

Pushes implies forward; therefore, I strongly suggest

It's the natural drive pushing beyond boundaries


Like the wolf in pursuit of its prey,
It is the inherent power of nature/
and all things in the universe ( how about and all universal things )?
That[’s] make[s] us animal and human.

I would line break after nature. The final line is grammatically incorrect with That's and makes. I would simply say

That makes us animal and human.

Overall I truly enjoyed the poem— but, being I did enjoy it, felt it could really be tightened up and the meat revealed with less potatoes ( not that I don't love potatoes! ).

I have an affinity for that word "that".
Thank you Ahavati, I've taken all suggestions to heart and made changes. A nice balance of meat and potatoes now.
Thank you.