Poetic Plot

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Poetic Plot by Valerie Parente

For the past few years
the only thing that got rid of my writer’s block
was when you’d go and pissed me off
so now that you’re dead and gone
I’m struggling to remember how to start.
How do I write a piece from my heart
without getting your image involved?
Because you were the one to break me apart
and I know that contradicts my thoughts
that I’m trying to write about moving on
but it’s way too damn hard
not to end this with a vicious remark
a quick fuck you for affecting my art
and a quick thank you for making me your pawn
because that sick game you called my fault
made a hell of a good poetic plot.

“Can’t Trust Love” by Valerie Parente

– Valerie Parente (7-6-2020)

“In Touch” FREE ON KINDLE through 7/9/2020

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From now through July 9, 2020, my full length novel about obsessive compulsive disorder, In Touch, is FREE on Kindle. Click here!

“Undergraduate physics student, Jef Sterling, has done enough textbook reading to know that the universe is home to countless mind-blowing discoveries. But Jef never expected one of those discoveries to be the mind of an obsessive compulsive writer sharing the same campus as him. After reading a poem by Lacey Parker about her personal struggle with OCD, Jef’s highly rational brain fixates on uncovering the mysteries held captive in Lacey’s highly irrational brain. Throughout the course of a school year these two students exchange ideas that merge science with art, reality with fantasy, and physical phenomena with mental phenomena. While learning from one another Jef makes it his mission to make sense of Lacey’s nonsensical disorder and all of its incredible ironies; how she lives by the notion of feeling everything emotionally but dreads feeling anything physically, how her mind lives to protect as it gradually wreaks destruction, and most paradoxically how both Lacey’s most rewarding qualities and most detrimental flaws manifest from the same brain. In Touch by Valerie Parente is a realistic fiction novel alive with intellectual discussion, mental strife, heartache, and anecdotal insight into the cognitive confines of obsessive compulsive disorder.”

Colorblind

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Colorblind by Valerie Parente

When a million red flags aligned
I chose to be colorblind
because it’s easier when your sight
can only register black or white.
Two extremes to choose between
until a rainbow had to intervene.

– Valerie Parente (7-5-2020)

Cry Wolf

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Cry Wolf by Valerie Parente

I’ve said it once
and I’ll say it again:
People want to be a hero so badly,
they’ll create a villain.

Because when you cry wolf
in a self-righteous hoax
you don’t really undermine
the real bad guys.

– Valerie Parente (7-1-2020)

Reflecting

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Reflecting by Valerie Parente

When she reflects on her behavior
she sees her full figure
a girl who longed to be the healer
of someone as dear as a stranger
a person who liked to treat her
like she was just a feature
of what he saw in the mirror
until he found someone weaker
whose insecurity stroked his ego deeper
and now she couldn’t see it any clearer
that this hellish pain is what freed her.

– Valerie Parente (6-30-2020)

New to Patreon!

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For anyone interested in supporting my mission to find beauty in darknes, I just made a Patreon account. No pressure to join, I just figured I should make the option available as an artist in this day and age. http://www.patreon.com/valerieparente

The overarching theme to all my artwork- whether it is poetry, prose, stories, drawings, paintings, or photography- is finding beautiful darkness. I love finding the positive in dark moods, situations, and imagery. This is evident in my written work on my website, valerieparente.wordpress.com, and in my novels available on Amazon (“The Artist, The Muse”, “In Touch”, and “Rather Be Haunted”. I draw inspiration from a lifelong and personal struggle with very severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anorexia. Each body of work I create centers around mental illness.
The Artist, The Muse : a poetry and prose collection about what it is like to have a mental disorder that influences your art.
In Touch : a fiction novel about a female with OCD, based on my real-life struggle with OCD, through the eyes of a male without the disorder.
Rather Be Haunted : a poetry and prose collection that explores love, heartache, and death from the perspective of a girl with OCD that feels “haunted” by the motifs in life that define her humanity, including my signature Mannequin Art (used as a commentary on what it means to learn how to be a “normal” human).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart if you are interested in my journey to discover beauty in darkness.

Burn

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Burn by Valerie Parente

I don’t even miss you any more,
I only ever think of you when I’m bored,
because you weren’t the person I deserved,
just a lesson I needed to learn
in this incredibly fucked up world.

– Valerie Parente (6-27-2020)

No Longer Walking On Glass

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No Longer Walking On Glass by Valerie Parente

I don’t feel like I’m walking on glass any more.
I don’t feel like I need to protect an ego so fragile it would break if I smile
and I realize that relationships are supposed to be good, not a constant battle.
I walk along freely and I realize how easy it is connecting with someone who respects me
and it’s not that you were bad
your words were just sharp as glass and my skin was too sensitive for that.
I tip-toed carefully when I should have been able to run free
but now that I’m done with that routine I can finally move on with ease.

– Valerie Parente (6-24-2020)

Let Go

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Let Go by Valerie Parente

Do not give energy to your worries
because the universe will try to warrant those worries
because the law of attraction
is judged by your interaction
with the thoughts that make it all happen.

“Raigna” by Valerie Parente

– Valerie Parente (6-23-2020)

Red Flags

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“Scared to Let Go” by Valerie Parente

Red Flags by Valerie Parente

Next time I see warning signs I need to realize
that this frustration makes me see red;
that’s why the red flags were easier to protect
because the color wasn’t something I noticed.

– Valerie Parente (6-22-2020)