The Devil On My Shoulder Is So Pretty

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The Devil On My Shoulder Is So Pretty by Valerie Parente

The devil on my shoulder
is so pretty.
She whispers poetry in my ear
that’s so sickening.
Because she used to be an angel
but she fell from grace
and now she lurks in the shadows
of my mental states.

Her horns represent
something so appealing
the idea of the subconscious
in the shape of a demon.
She is narcissism, she is vanity,
the root of evil.
She is the assignment of good and bad,
the concept of ego.

She tempts the pragmatic mind
like a moth to a flame.
She claims chaos and destruction
explains the pain.
But tell me why I have morals
deep in my core
tell me why light and love
will always conquer.

The devil on my shoulder
is just a breath.
She accompanies my life
like the idea of death.
She is creation
whispering in my ear
she is just a thought
a philosophical idea.

– Valerie Parente (5-17-2026)

The Carnival is Back in Town

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The Carnival is Back in Town
by Valerie Parente

The carnival
is back in town
and it gives me a feeling
so profound
the way we build it up
just to tear it down
like our expectations
before we all found
that the promise of adulthood
wasn’t safe and sound
it’s a game of chance
to outgrow these clowns
but that ferris wheel
it still goes around
same crazy ride
with a different crowd
and year after year
on these fairgrounds
you remember when life was fair
but it’s not fair now.
There was an innocence then
that childhood allowed
but if you listen carefully
you’ll still hear it loud
the sound of the carnival
when it’s back in town
a fleeting state
that cannot be bound.

– Valerie Parente (5-16-2026)

Stomach Lining

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Stomach Lining
by Valerie Parente

Oh the irony
that I destroyed my stomach lining
in an effort to be thin,
that I can’t properly digest
the world I want to take in.
I did it to myself
swallowing pills for bloating
but the stomach didn’t shrink
it became agonizing.
Meanwhile we live in a society
handing out prescriptions
to ruin the appetite of the ones
without mental conditions.
The same doctors that wagged their fingers
in my direction
are now encouraging disorders
à la injection.
And I’m sorry but I don’t have the stomach
to actively listen
to those once preaching body positivity
now with the opposite opinion.
It’s almost like it was never about health
just a superficial conviction.
It’s a sick world equating deprivation
with sweet discipline.
No, I don’t have the stomach
or the interior lining
to digest the bullshit
the elites are buying.
The mental fortitude it takes
to fight disordered eating
has never been more difficult
for those of us healing.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2026)

Accidental Invocations

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Accidental Invocations by Valerie Parente

I’m scared to let my hands touch each other
in case I have an intrusive thought,
because then God might mistake it for praying
for something that I don’t want.

When I lie down to sleep
I make sure I separate my hands
because what if I think bad things
and invoke my own nightmares?

I scramble to apologize
in case God is listening
but how can I rescind the lies
with the same voice that sins?

But then I remind myself
God’s language is genuine,
He need not know my words
because He knows my intentions.

If the universe had a voice
He would speak through energy
anxiety wouldn’t make a dent
to the creator of the grand scheme.

Fear no accidental invocations
from the obsessive compulsive thoughts,
God doesn’t reach us in the brain
He only reaches for the heart.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2026)

Many Women, Some Men

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Many Women, Some Men by Valerie Parente

Many women play dumb
as not to offend
because to anger some men
could mean her life’s end.

Many women go ghost
as not to piss off
fearing rejection
could mean her life stops.

Many women hold their keys
as a means to defend
between the knuckles
where her life depends.

Many women smile back
as a way to pretend
because if she disapproves
her life could be threatened.

Some men need an explicit signal
but when they receive that, they attack
then turn around and blame women
for putting on an act.

And the knee-jerk reaction
is to say “not all men”
but what do you call it when a small portion
affects every single woman?

– Valerie Parente (4-24-2026)

Afraid of Outer Space

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Afraid of Outer Space
by Valerie Parente

She says she’s afraid
of outer space
but everything she loves
exists in space
through the cosmos and the black
hurtles a place
that she calls home
perfectly made
a perfect planet
for an imperfect race
and all it takes is one doubt
to collapse all progress made
so instead she says she fears
the less familiar state
a void out there
of astronomical stakes.

Maybe what we’re scared of
isn’t the vastness of space
maybe what we’re really scared of
is coming face to face
with the reality that we’re all
floating through a blank slate
where anything could happen
but we get to dictate
how far we go
to make sense of this place
maybe it’s the vastness of the choices
that could be made
that scares us to death
when humans get a say.

Down here we have differences
down here we’re supposed to be safe
but we’re capable of making it dangerous
we’re capable of turning it into a hellscape.
Out there might be vast
but there’s no room for hate
we can only survive it
if we collaborate
working hand in hand
remembering we’re the same.
Out there hope and love
is what governs our fate.
Out there the only thing that matters
is humanity’s greatest strengths.

“Artemis II” by Valerie Parente

– Valerie Parente (4-11-2026)


Pour My Heart

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Pour My Heart by Valerie Parente

I pour my heart
into everything that I do
like shedding blood
into every brew.

This is the art
of bleeding your muse
just a little taste
of the pain that fuels.

Put it out there in the world
now it’s tea for two
let that multiply
with every view.

Bring out the fine china
let the blood spew
it’s been steeped to perfection
from me to you.

– Valerie Parente (4-11-2026)

Cathedral

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Cathedral by Valerie Parente

She worships her body
like a cathedral
a sacred space
to shelter the ego.

A corset of ribbed vaults
to emphasize her curves;
if this is no man’s state
then separate it from her church.

You made her body
into something political
but she’s not a group project
she’s an individual.

She listens to her own belief system
not the sound of a man’s sermon
knowing there’s no such thing
as a whore or a virgin.

The religion of her decisions
only needs to make sense to her
one woman’s freedom
is not another man’s curse.

– Valerie Parente (4-7-2026)

Theist

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Theist by Valerie Parente

People ask, do you believe in God?
I ask, does God believe in us?
Then I remember, He lets us keep going
He lets us keep going even when we mess up
He lets us keep going
He lets us keep going, so he must.

– Valerie Parente (3-27-2026)


Wish Upon A Star…

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Wish Upon A Star… by Valerie Parente

When children wish upon a star
do you think their little brains know
that the star might have died
a long time ago?

The naivety of our past
influences our hopes today
yet that light still reaches us
even after that star goes away.

Somewhere down the line
that star turned to dust
but look at you now,
out of that dust you grew up.

So why shouldn’t we believe
a wish on a star can come true
when we ourselves are manifestations
of the fire they once bloomed.

Death is just a word
what was once life goes on
in the little ripples and effects
of a light so strong from beyond.

Those children had it right
to wish upon the stars.
Energy never dies
it just moves along.

– Valerie Parente (3-21-2026)