Midnight Strike

By D.L. Lang

Midnight Strike D.L. Lang’s 12th book of poetry. D.L. Lang served as Vallejo’s poet laureate. This book contains 70 new poems primarily written between September 2018 and July 2019, and includes topical poetry, some Jewish poems, and poetry written for events in and around Vallejo, California.

Lang's latest collection of poetry is a cri de coeur on the injustices of contemporary life. Lang's bold, erudite language will empower and uplift readers: "Until all women are safe from violence, so that a woman can exist in any space without fear, we march!" Such pieces leap off the page and demand to be read aloud to release their crackling energy. Skeptics who deem protest-oriented verse to be ineffective or outmoded will struggle with most of Lang's writing, but for others, it will be a persuasive call to action. A forthright, energizing collection. --Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.L. Lang
• Release date: Oct 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005665265

D.L. Lang

D.L. Lang is the author of 13 poetry books, most recently This Festival of Dreams. She served as poet laureate of Vallejo, California from 2017 to 2019, performing hundreds of times across California at county fairs, literary events, and political demonstrations. She has been published in dozens of anthologies worldwide. Her poems have been transformed into songs, Jewish liturgy, and used to advocate for peace and justice. She can be found online at poetryebook.com

Book preview

Foreword

I called this book Midnight Strike since it’s my 12th poetry book.

As of publication on July 4, 2019, I will have published 1,117 poems, 70 of them in this book, and read my work to the public over 218 times, 119 of those times while serving as Vallejo’s second ever poet laureate with a handful more to come as notated in later paragraphs. 124 times before the end of my term on August 31st, 2019.

The funny thing is that when I was 10 I pictured myself being on stage, but I had no idea such things were even possible with poetry until 2015. I am grateful to all who have made that possible.

The majority of poems in this volume were written between September 2018 and June 2019. The exceptions to that time range are the following eight poems:

Turning was written on Yom Kippur in 2017 and was withheld for first publication by ReformJudaism.org.

Is was first published in the Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Vol XXI. The Choice was first published in Light & Shadow by the Benicia First Tuesday Poets. Both of them were written in the winter of 2017. Is won 3rd Place in Published Poetry at the 2019 Solano County Fair, and The Choice won 1st Place in Free Form Poetry at the 2018 San Mateo County Fair.

Frisco 5 and Democracy Springs were written in response to headlines in May 2015 and April 2016, respectively, and were rescued from my submission reject pile and were written prior to my serving as laureate. Poetry in the 21st Century and A Poet’s Life were written in sometime in 2017 or 2018. Portions of The Mourning of a Nation were written prior to December 5, 2018, the day to which the title refers.

Although there are also some lighthearted rhymes peppered throughout this volume, many poems were born out of the necessity of poet laureate as town feeler and many are a reflection of the times we live in and my own political evolution.

Pittsburgh was written after the mass shooting that killed 11 Jewish elders at the Tree of Life synagogue. I performed this, choking back tears at Unity Plaza during the October 28th, 2018 vigil Vallejo United Against Hatred and Anti-Semitism. I then wrote A World Without Bullets as a more hopeful poem shortly thereafter, and premiered it on OZCAT Radio 89.5 FM on November 29, 2018.

After the horrific shooting at two mosques in New Zealand in March 2019, I wrote 49 Lights at the request of Jews of Vallejo and Their Fabulous Friends as a show of solidarity with the Muslim community. I also crafted their public statement. Both were printed in the Vallejo Times-Herald on March 19, 2019. Never Known and 22 Nisan 5779 were written in reaction to the Passover shooting at Chabad in Poway, California.

Voices of the Season was written for the McCune Collection’s holiday celebration of the same name, and performed on December 16, 2018. I read some Hanukkah themed poems from various poets as well as Hanukkiah Lighting, Hanukkah Train, Penguin Season Blues and the aforementioned Voices of the Season. During Hanukkah in 2018 I performed Hanukkiah Lighting for Hanukkah & Hilarity. I also had the honor of performing a set of Jewish poetry and doing a Q&A at Congregation Beth Sholom in Napa on March 6th, 2019. I appreciate the Women of Rodef Sholom for publishing my poem about our annual sisterhood retreat Scene in their June 2019 newsletter.

I wrote A Blessing for the Women Who Pray With Their Feet as an invocation for the 2019 Vallejo Women’s March, Women Building Vallejo. My opinions on women’s issues spilled out into 36 verses. The ten intended for the invocation appear in this poem. The 26 alternative verses which could be swapped out for a longer reading as more of a rallying cry for women are located in We March (Alternative Verses). The beginning of the invocation expounds upon a poem I’d published in 2016’s Armor Against the Dawn. I gave a statement to the Times-Herald regarding the national Women’s March controversy. My invocation A Blessing for the Women who Pray with their Feet was created as a call and response prayer so as to energize the assembly, a way of sharing and spreading the performer’s high and lifting everyone up spiritually.

On October 6th, 2018 I performed Headline Antidote by memory at the historic Gathering of California’s Poets Laureate. We were all recognized by