D.L. Lang: California Poets Part 8, Two Poems
January 8th, 2025
California Poets: Part VIII
D.L. Lang
Two Poems
Self-Acceptance
When all the feelings society suppressed within you
finally erupt with acceptance and infinite passion,
you shall awaken to yourself, awe bubbling over,
giving yourself the freedom to love what you love,
to enjoy endless pleasures of life without shame,
to indulge in the fiery energy of being fully alive,
shunning the restrictions of rules you did not write
that keep others imprisoned by inauthentic limitations.
It is like a volcano that overtakes the entirety of your soul,
and you cannot reverse time—you must submit fully
to the idea that this life is yours to live how you wish,
and that you can choose to diverge from the norm,
confidently pursuing what makes you erupt with bliss,
and no one has the power to overturn your freedom
for once you have tasted it, there is no going back.
How Can I Teach You to Follow a Dream?
I can only point towards the road,
perhaps, hidden behind tall trees,
but I cannot make you walk it,
nor keep you from straying.
This road is not paved with gold.
Its foundation is only cooperation.
While necessary for survival,
gold itself is not the path.
This pathway is illuminated by spotlights,
but this illumination is incomplete,
hiding the dark spaces in between
where distraction whispers, “relent.”
I can only show you the doorways,
but it is up to you to pass through them.
No matter how many seeds of opportunity I plant,
it is your choice whether or not you blossom.
For you can choose to not water them,
and let the dust gently blow out the candle
that held that last spark until forgotten
like a childhood memory laid to rest.
Author Bio:
D.L. Lang is an internationally published poet whose work appears in over 70 anthologies worldwide. Her poems have also appeared in California Quarterly, Maintenant, and Suisun Valley Review. She has also written articles for People’s World and People’s Tribune. She has been recognized in proclamations from the California State Senate, California Arts Council, and Vallejo City Council for her service as Vallejo, California’s Poet Laureate (2017-2019). She is a member of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade, a Woody Guthrie Poet, and a co-founder of Vallejo Poetry Society. Lang has performed hundreds of times at literary events, political demonstrations, art galleries, county fairs and festivals. She has published 17 poetry collections, including her most recent book of protest poetry, Fighting the Solar System. She can be found online at poetryebook.com
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