When I dream
my body doesn’t come with me.
I don’t worry about the where when and why
I simply believe
and it’s already mine.
When I hope
I just need to feel it to know.
Nature doesn’t need to run it by me
like a river that flows
along my conscious stream.
There are hints all around
embedded in the sensory
that when it’s all said and done
we are transcendent beings.
I am not the life I live
through my thoughts
I am the dream that goes on
when they shut off.
– Valerie Parente (7-23-2026)
Metamorphosis by Valerie Parente
Is this the beginning of the end
or the end of the beginning?
Because I’m still me
but my world is shifting
from the safety of a cocoon
to the wind that is whistling
and as my story unfolds
I wonder how much is scripted
because they say to spread my wings
and I’ve decided to listen
but only time will tell
if this is the end or the beginning.
– Valerie Parente (7-19-2026)
She Bites Back by Valerie Parente
If you bite
she bites back
then you have the nerve to make her the enemy
when she reacts
telling the world her defense mechanisms
are an attack
but you bit first
then put on the act
that it’s her fangs
with the negative impact.
Yes, you bit first
but she’ll bite last.
– Valerie Parente (7-5-2026)
home is as close to you as your heart by Valerie Parente
It’s not running away
if I bring home with me.
There’s no need to be afraid
that my love will leave
because it was always your love
that moved me.
I am only as far away
as the heart that I keep.
You are only as far away
as the heart inside you that beats.
– Valerie Parente (7-3-2026)
The Fine Line of Yearning by Valerie Parente
Yearning is a fine line
between surviving and thriving
and somewhere along the line
I fell in love with the surviving
the journey to preserve myself
while trusting the timing
that the goal of something else
would be gratifying.
But I didn’t prepare for
the comfort of discomfort
finding home in the journey
finding peace in the yearning.
Waiting
preparing
learning
becoming the best me
and when I finally had my hands on all I dreamed
I couldn’t shake the feeling
that I wanted to go back to sleep.
But now I know who I am
and I know what I will carry with me
and I know closing that circle
is where that fine line completes.
– Valerie Parente (6-28-2026)
Ephemeral by Valerie Parente
There’s nothing you could say
that would ever scare me
I only fear
no longer hearing you speak.
– Valerie Parente (6-28-2026)
Ends of the Earth
by Valerie Parente
I would go
to the ends of the earth
to make sure you know
just how much you’re worth
stretched out past the atmosphere
beyond the boundaries of the world
yes for you I would go
to the ends of the earth
because you’re less of a planet
and more of an entire universe.
– Valerie Parente (6-21-2026)
The Lie by Valerie Parente
The problem was never the lie
the problem was how easy it was to believe the lie.
It’s a travesty
the way they mold our minds
like clay or paper mâché
they shape our brains
but when we realize we’ve been used
we can begin to dissolve the ruse.
The lie says more about the fragility of our minds
than it does about the content it transcribes
and the truth in that realization
can set us free from exploitation.
– Valerie Parente (6-14-2026)
Primordial Soup
by Valerie Parente
Back when we were floating
in the primordial soup
I said I’ll go
but I’m not going without you.
I know in my heart of hearts
down to each molecule
when I chose life
you chose it too.
Across the universe
we swore we’d find each other
again and again
entangled to one another.
We picked the earth
human life to discover
what it feels to be a breath
space and time undercover.
I knew I wouldn’t remember
the very specifics of this promise
but I swore when I found what I was meant to
I’d be sure to recognize it.
– Valerie Parente (6-6-2026)
The Best Revenge Is That You Have to Live With Yourself
by Valerie Parente
The best revenge
is that you have to live with yourself.
I sleep so well
knowing you made your own hell.
I could dream up a million hells that you deserve
but nothing could be worse
to what how you must suffer
when you look in the mirror
and see someone you abhor
oh your face must contort
with a special kind of hurt
masking a frown with a smirk
against the laws of the universe
you made karma your own curse
and you might have wronged me first
but it’s your self hatred that will endure.
– Valerie Parente (5-31-2026)
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