D. L. Lang Headlines Third Thursday Poetry " Virtual Evening of Poetry Set For May 20

By Blake More

     Point Arena Third Thursday Poetry presents a virtual Third Thursday Zoom Poetry reading at 7:00pm on Thursday, May 20, 2021.  This month features Vallejo poet D.L. Lang, with open mic to follow.

     D.L. Lang recently served as the 2017-2019 Poet Laureate of Vallejo, California, performing at numerous shows across the San Francisco Bay Area. Highlights of her tenure include giving the invocation for the 2019 Vallejo Women’s March, the Poets Laureate on Social Justice tour, and attending the Historic Gathering of California Poets Laureate in Los Angeles. 

She served as a judge for the Solano County Fair Talent Competition, for the Joel Fallon Poetry Scholarship, for Solano County Library’s Teen Writing Contest, and for Solano County Poetry Out Loud. She has regularly performed at Poetry by the Bay since 2015, lead the Poetry in Notion poetry circle, and reads live on the air on OZCAT radio. 

Kirkus Reviews stated that her poems “embrace spoken-word rhythms and hippie principles” and that they “leap off the page and demand to be read aloud to release their crackling energy.” Her writings are a blend of memory, history, imagination, politics, and spirituality. Her poems have been transformed into songs, Jewish liturgy, and used as a means to advocate for peace and justice at area demonstrations. (A sample of her poetry can be found below).

     D.L. Lang is the author of twelve poetry books, most recently Midnight Strike, and one spoken word album, Happy Accidents. Her work has appeared in the Benicia Herald, Poets Are Heroes Magazine, ReformJudaism.org, and the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and has been anthologized in Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Vol. 21, A Poet’s Siddur, and Light & Shadow. She was the editor of the 2019 anthology Verses, Voices & Visions of Vallejo. She has won 36 ribbons and rosettes for her poetry at the Alameda, Marin, San Mateo, and Solano County Fairs.

     D.L. Lang previously worked at television stations KXOK and TV4OU, and volunteered at PEGASYS, where she was awarded Best Editor in 2002, and Producer of the Year in both 2003 and 2004. She is also known for her work on the films Liquid Wind and the Hebrew Project. Lang also designed several album covers and created music videos for the psychedelic rock artist, Grey.

     D.L. Lang has been writing poetry for over 25 years, since she first got a taste of it in elementary school. Her early years were spent in Germany, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Lang holds a B.A. in Film & Video Studies with a minor in Judaic Studies from the University of Oklahoma and an A.S. in General Studies from Northern Oklahoma College. She settled down in California in 2005, and has resided in Vallejo, California with her husband, Tim, since 2014. Her website is:  www.poetryebook.com.

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.

D.L. Lang