Vallejo Poet Laureate 2017-2019
Where the cool breeze
dances through the forest
as the ocean kisses the clouds
lies a dusty mountain trail
home to banana slugs
that romp past red mushrooms
in a cold winter morning
as the birds croon
to the rhythm of ocean waves
where the seagulls dive
feeling so vibrant and alive.
No one around for miles.
This poem is written from today’s Napowrimo prompt. To participate in National Poetry Writing Month, visit napowrimo.net
This poem won 1st Place in Explore California State Parks at the Alameda County Fair 2019.
Forest Whisperings
The forest,
she is calling me.
It’s been too long since
I’ve wandered
her beautiful winding pathways,
climbed her mountains
just for a gaze of beauty so intense
no poem nor photo does justice,
admired the way the sun dapples
brilliantly through her branches,
soaked in the salty smell of ocean
entangled with fresh pine.
She is calling,
and to her,
I must soon journey,
for within her bosom,
I shall be reunited with myself.
I read both of these poems at the Flyaway Festival on Mare Island on February 11, 2018.
Spring in the City
Above the rush
of the highway,
I hear them singing—
nestled in trees,
relaxing.
The birds have returned
from journeys afar,
carrying melodies,
announcing:
“It is spring.
It is spring.
Won’t you join in?
Leave your houses
and just sing.”
Birds in Harmony
The two feathery dancers
were soaring in the wild winds,
as birds from every continent
intermingled with the stars.
The air swirled with excitement
for the concert was about to begin.
Every creature for miles
could not wait to listen in.
The parrots came forth to the front,
announcing the start of the show,
in every language of the world
that they happened to know.
Soon the skies were a bloom with music
as the birds held their springtime show,
singing about their many journeys
from the mountains to the sea.
In the houses and grassy fields below,
all the critters gathered to listen in,
and many minds were left dreaming
of travel, dazzled by the lyrics, you know.
Every song that they whistled
honored a world so wide and free,
each note a taste of paradise,
for anyone who did hear.
They sang of tall fruit orchards,
ocean waters, and city parks.
They sang ever so soulfully,
until the sunset faded into dark.
Dragonfly Tomorrows & Dog-eared Yesterdays is D.L. Lang's 9th poetry collection. It is comprised of over 100 pages of inspirational, personal, fictional, and political poetry.
Dragonfly Tomorrows & Dog-eared Yesterdays is my 9th poetry collection comprised of poems that were written between December 2016 and June 2017. The title came about as I was stopped at a red light. A local restaurant had a sign on the corner that said, “Catfish Today,” so as a way of passing the time I broke down those words and came up with additional phrases that contained a compound word with an animal and a time period. My aim with this book was to try to largely be uplifting and distracting as an antidote to the often heartbreaking chaos of the world today, so there are intentionally less topical poems than in previous collections. My two personal favorites of this variety are “Where are the Heroes?” and “Affirmations of a Dream” which close out the book. “Cats on Caravan” and “IWWD” refer to my experience of the Women’s March and Strike. As I was preparing my entries for area fairs this year, I wrote “Lift Off!” describing the experience of the fair. “The Sixties” was written to fit the theme of the Marin County Fair that is honoring the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. I was not alive in those years, obviously, but tried to write from the perspective of someone who was. It is one period in American history that continues to fascinate me. I’m quite pleased that both were awarded blue ribbons. I also spent a lot of time reminiscing about my childhood haunt in Enid, Oklahoma, a field down by the railroad tracks that’s now called Oakwood Nature Park, so “Blanton-Kiowa Line” captures the history of that area. I’ve developed an affinity for train songs, so my husband challenged me to write “Hanukah Train” as we found ourselves listening to old folk songs this past Hanukah. This volume brings the total of my published poems to 918. While it will be the first book released after being named the 2nd Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California, poems written during that tenure will be released in future books. This milestone provides a natural closing point for this book. Thanks for reading!Complete list of poems included in this volume: Expectations of a Future Wildflowers Dog-eared Yesterdays Balcony Dreams Celestial Scenes A Pillow for the Heart There are… Holy Stumblings Spring in the City Choose to Be Parallels And If They Can, Why Can’t We? At the Intersection There’s a Peace in Slowness How to Read Poetry The Seeker Happy Place Those of Gentle Hearts Traffic Jammer Birds in Harmony Each One of Us Dreams Demand Go Down Easy Yes A Circle of Dreams The Sixties Lift Off! Dixon May Fair Waterfront Observations Island Poem Generation Transformation All I’ve Got Left of You Time Overdrawn Bright Light Hanukah Train Blanton-Kiowa Line Enid Sunrise Praying for Rain April Foolery Anytime Hang On to Your Soul Sally The Talebearer Zing A Home One Two Somewhere Beyond Personal Evolution Like Broken Glass Moments Old Songs Sparked by Melody Renewed Awe As the Sun Street Mouse Class Participation Beachside A Napa Moment Mall Walker epic history poem Antisocial Media The Way to Contentment Humanity Brightest Greed’s Disconnect Although Ochlocracy Politics This Earth Day Stay Lit On Fear Lines Dear Land of the Free IWWD What if? Radioactive Returns Cats on Caravan New Old America Immigrants’ Truth What’s It Gonna Take? Not Your Problem? You Cannot See Through Gold Where are the Heroes? Affirmations of a Dream
It was truly an honor to be able to share this poem today at Artiszen for the group of visionary, world-changing activists, architects, and environmentalists gathered there for Resilient by Design.
Listen! Listen!
Do you hear that?
Our Mother, she is calling.
She weeps with a broken heart.
She begs for her children to treat her with love.
For her children to act out of gratitude.
Their existence relies upon her.
*Sigh*
But only some of her children choose love.
They take her messages to heart,
and they shout them from the rooftops.
Others still heartlessly plunder her house,
her patience, her time, her heart,
leaving it barren.
Her tears flood our streets.
She bathes in a tsunami of sorrow.
She exhales in hurricanes
that cry out, “Wake Up!”
Listen to your Mother Earth.
She is calling.
Do not let her cries go unheard!
Hear her, so that we may turn,
that she may turn,
that we might all be welcome in her home,
in the only home we’ve ever known.
These excesses that we chase
in the name of fame and fortune
will soon come to swallow us,
if we do not turn
towards
a life of simplicity,
a life of sustainability,
a life
that respects all other life.
The solutions are right in front of us.
We hold within us the vision.
All we must do
is act.
Resting on my Laurels contains poetry written, performed, and published during D.L. Lang's tenure as the 2nd Poet Laureate of Vallejo in addition to other never before seen poems.
Resting on my Laurels contains 86 poems including many written, performed, and published during D.L. Lang’s tenure as the 2nd Poet Laureate of Vallejo. It contains such favorites as “Ancestral Honor”, “Millennium Vision”, “Use Elevator to Exit Reality”, “Train Whistle Polka”, “Benicia Bound”, “Love Poetry Capital Blockade”, “Visions,” “Vallejo, California,” “Elegant Stag,” “Little Watercraft,” “Listen!” and many, many more written and performed in 2017-2018.
Read poetry posted on the blog from Resting on my Laurels.
Local bookstores and libraries often provide venues for poets and local authors, and many of them have invited me to read over the years, so when possible, please shop local! Any bookstore should be able to special order it for you using the ISBN, so please utilize your local independent bookshop.
List Price: $9.99
5.06″ x 7.81″ (12.852 x 19.837 cm)
Black & White on White paper
130 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1983939778
ISBN-10: 1983939773
BISAC: Poetry / Women Authors
Smashwords ISBN: 9780463718933
Smashwords makes ebooks compatible with all major e-reading devices in .mobi, .epub, .pdf, .lrf, .pdb, and plain text formats.
The ebook is also available through Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, Kobo, and Kindle.
Also available to libraries through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor Axis 360, Tolino, Gardners (Askews & Holts and Browns Books for Students), Bibliotheca CloudLibrary, Odilo and Califa’s Enki.
Complete list of poems included in this volume:
Rebel Verse
Know
Hey, Daydreamer
Mandatory Vacation
Dust Storms May Exist
Woody
Living Lyrics
Orion
Taking a Trip on the Mother Road
A New Day
Stars
What’s in a Hat?
For My Favorite Hobo
Resting on my Laurels
To My Favorite Protest Singer
Wandering Stars
Offerings
Buried Treasure
Disarmed
Terms of Endearment
Reunion
How
Here
This Isn’t
Rays of Hope
Afflatus
Read the Signs
Mind Blown
Dancing
A Single Heart
Bibliophile
There is Always Good News
Solidarity Salutes
Metaphor
Clear-headed Underwater
Back Catalogue
Upward Spirals
Why D.L.?
That which the Realtor cannot Itemize
To the Tenth Generation
My Soul’s Citizenship
The Storm Shall Pass
The Missing
The Lottery of Birth
I’m Tired of Waking Up in 1933!
Why???
In These Times
The Time Has Come
Xennial Luddite
Occupational Hazards
Fascinations
Firestorm
Secondary Sorrows
Inevitably of Existence
Performance Anxiety
It Ain’t What it Seems
Highway Snobbery
In Times of Action
What 3 Words?
Delayed Response
State of the Poet
Pain Relief
Fame
The Gallows of Public Opinion
The River
Beliefs
Visions
Vallejo, California
Charlottesville
Ancestral Honor
Millennium Vision
Unbound
Little Watercraft
Dreaming of Better Days
Elegant Stag
Players
Ignite
Listen!
What A Gift You Have Given Me!
Use Elevator to Exit Reality
Wrapping It Up
For Newman
Train Whistle Polka
Love Poetry Capital Blockade
Benicia Bound
Libraries Ignite Universes
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Muddy Boots, Mirrored Lakes
A vineyard is just a fancy word for grape farm.
The grass is green.
The leaves are yellow.
The rain has fallen.
The turkeys are perched high on fence posts like guardians.
It’s a good day for hiking.
Just south of the roaring highway.
Strolling softly as birds join in joyful conversations.
I hurry not as the trucks do.
I’ve got nowhere and no one to be.
Here among the hills, I am free.
Watch a video of this poem by clicking here.
