“Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“… That time heals the pain?”
“Yes, as time goes by you will smile at their memory instead of cry.”
“Is that because you start to forget about them?”
“No. You do not forget- you remember. You remember all those times together instead of that one moment you lost them.”
– Valerie Parente (1-6-2023)
Sunrise (A Fantasy Chronicle) by Valerie Parente
Elissa grew up to be an enchantress
understanding the dark art of semantics
“Would you do it again?” her peers asked.
She declared, “I wouldn’t change the past
but I will tell you this of darkness
preach not what you practice.
It would be a grave mistake
to go out of your way
to create pain out of nothing
in an attempt to feel something.
Thou shall respond to darkness
while the sun sets
knowing the sun will rise again
along the horizon.”
– Valerie Parente (12-6-2022)
Paint The Stars With Blood (Part I) by Valerie Parente
Elissa painted the stars with her blood
back when she was numb
a little crimson magic
for the sky’s fabric
stained on purpose
because the creepers said it would be worth it
so she fulfilled that prophecy
when she was so damn naive
illuminating the region
with stars the shapes of demons
but the sun eventually rose
and she could see she was alone
that’s when she found the strength
to no longer identify with pain
it was the bravest thing she ever did
deciding she was more than her emotions.
– Valerie Parente (9-6-2022)
A Harpy’s Observation by Valerie Parente
The harpy fought her darkness
but vowed in her core
she would never haunt another.
Quite often she noticed
from her bird’s eye view
something ever so cruel.
All throughout the village
so many so called lovers
continuously hurt each other.
So she asked the lunar druid,
“Why are there so many toxic pairs?”
and to that he declared.
“Damaged people damage people
when mental health defects
remain unchecked.
Yes we all have a dark side
and I shall not fault one for their darkness
unless it goes unaddressed.
So many become a pair
and they foster displacement
from their own self-hatred.
You must at least try
to find healing in yourself
before you find love in someone else.”
– Valerie Parente (6-10-2022)
The Undead Mermaids by Valerie Parente
Little girl skipping pebble stones
in the bay behind her little home
mother told her not to go
but to that little lake she strolled.
She played a dangerous game
with creepy mermaids her age
they said “dip your toes in the lake”
beneath the water lily maze.
Little girl offered one tiny inch
that’s when she got sucked in
groped and bitten
by those devious sirens.
Then took place the wicked spell
the undead mermaid hell
little girl turned into one of them
luring other girls to that realm.
Prominent were their ribs
with hair that became thin
so emaciated and addicted
to rotting in their grey skin.
Once choice is all it takes
a little curiosity in your brain
to turn you into a slave
recruiting more undead mermaids.
– Valerie Parente (4-23-2022)
Ravenheart by Valerie Parente
Illihana was born with a Ravenheart
a sanctum dark as midnight
so debilitating in its comfort
making a cozy life from her demise.
Each vein black and branching out
scaring off every knight
like spiderwebs on her skin
or cracks on a doll so pallid white.
This blackness, it infected it all
every touch, every thought in her mind
she couldn’t control its presence
so she hid during the daylight.
She made a home with her ravenheart
grooming pride instead of spite
isolated from the fear she drew near
and in men’s fear she started to thrive
emboldened by the way her beauty
was so personal and precise
something too scary during the day
and too camoflouged to touch at night.
The grit, the grime, the gore
was never worth a common man’s fight.
But Sir Dovetail was no common man
he was so resilient in all his light.
The prince spoke to her in the pitch black
getting to know her dark side
and he didn’t care to run away
even when she cried.
The love was glorious, the love was grand
the love made her start to realize
that isolation that once consoled her
no longer felt like a source of pride.
When she had to leave her prince before dawn
she wished she could leave the ravenheart behind.
She could accept the darkness for her sake
the way its wrath made her writhe
but what she could not come to accept
was the way it impaired his life.
Though never once did he express distress
never once did he resent her strife
but she knew that deep down
he missed having her in sunlight.
Illihana emerged from her cave
with dark veins in plain sight
and as the townspeople stared
so did Dovetail in delight.
When he finally saw her blackened heart
he couldn’t help but notice her beautiful eyes
so big and bold and brave
and oh he loved how they shined.
– Valerie Parente (2-11-2022)
Beg A Question (The Royal Harpy & The Lunar Druid) by Valerie Parente
The royal harpy’s sickness
has always been her muse
and that’s precisely why this princess
couldn’t differentiate from the two.
On a night of pure stillness
she captured the druid of the moon
she took him as her witness
and begged him for the truth.
“Surely it’s your business,
and I will not be made a fool,
tell me, am I my condition
or is my condition just a ruse?”
The lunar druid was oddly smitten
remembering all the princess had been through
a young harpy tormented by children
so he posed a question too.
“Did they bully you for your condition?
Or was this your condition because they bullied you?”
“I’m not sure I know the difference,”
the princess whispered so confused.
That druid of the moon simply listened
as he heard all he needed to
and as his emerald eyes glistened
he whispered, “That is your proof.”
– Valerie Parente (7-30-2021)
The Crystal Tree by Valerie Parente
There is a plant that sprouts
though not from a seed,
it spawns from a gem.
They call it the crystal tree
and when it’s full grown
sparkling prisms it breeds,
dangling from ebony branches,
a quartz and amethyst variety.
All the boys and the girls
like to go crystal picking,
plucking off shiny rocks,
in return a prophecy is given,
reflecting the constellations
that the stars have written.
Each crystal shows a path
specific to all the children.
One day young Elissa
wandered through destiny’s groves.
Eager for some direction
she plucked a droplet the color of rose
and ever since that day
she thought in poetry an prose
making a living through words
recording her conscience in rows.
Sometimes we find guidance
in the depths of nature
discovering ultimate truths
for man is its mirror.
We can sparkle, we can shine
and nothing is dearer
than the clarity of our instincts
and an intuition that is clearer.
– Valerie Parente (11-25-2020)
Profound or just bitter? by Valerie Parente
“I’ve come to the conclusion
that everybody who is in a relationship
is hiding from themself,”
said the bitter 25 year old girl.
– Valerie Parente (1-16-2020)
Sad Truth by Valerie Parente
“What did I do to deserve such disrespect?”
“You loved someone who doesn’t even love themself.”
– Valerie Parente (12-9-2019)
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