Ravenheart: Her Black Heart (A Fantasy Chronicle)

March 15, 2026Leave a comment

Ravenheart: Her Black Heart by Valerie Parente

That woman had a ravenheart
so burnt and charred
buried in her chest
like a pounding scar.

She lived in the dwelling
dwelling on the pain
and when the prince came to save her
she hid deep in her cave.

She cried, “Don’t get too close to me
I have a black heart
you will never be safe
within my arms.”

He countered, “Your worry is warped
my dear, fear no death
your black heart is no curse
it’s the channel for your depth.

No surface absorbs light
as well as the color black
what you say you destroy
is what you attract.

Step out, into the world
you’d be surprised how wonderful it is
to interact with it all
and feel the sun on your skin.”

With black veins like branches
she revealed herself
and her black heart raced
at the sight of someone else.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2025)

Eve

March 13, 2026March 14, 2026Leave a comment

Eve by Valerie Parente

I am every woman
who came before me.
Every moment they sacrificed
carved out a space
for my dreams.

I am every moment
a woman is believed.
Every truth they told
lays the foundation
that sets me free.

I am the truth
flawed as it may be.
Every mistake a girl makes
we feel empathy
all the way back
to our first girl, Eve.

– Valerie Parente (3-13-2026)

Savor / Savior

March 8, 2026March 8, 2026Leave a comment

Savor / Savior by Valerie Parente

I asked God “how can I make the most of a moment?”
and he told me to savor
but taste has always made me feel guilty
like a sick girl who chews and spits it out for the flavor.
Now in my wisdom and adulthood
I don’t condone that behavior
but I’d be lying if I withheld the facts of my past
bound to come out sooner or later
that I wasted away like I wasted time
and made my own breathing labored.
The truth is I’m still scared of consumption
without a cavern or a crater
but I no longer leave room intentionally
I’ve started to do myself that favor,
realizing gut feelings are there for a reason
and to mute them is to mute my maker.
So I saved myself from within by enjoying food again
to the memories the guardian angels catered.
Now I feel a presence in every present tense
with a belly that belongs to a savior.

– Valerie Parente (3-8-2026)

Let Your Hair Down

March 3, 2026March 7, 2026Leave a comment

Let Your Hair Down by Valerie Parente

If there is such a world
that buries women in the ground
for letting their hair down
let my sisters see the light of day
when a tornado comes their way.
As they feel the movement in the air
tell my sisters, don’t be scared
that rush is just the feeling
of the wind in your hair.

– Valerie Parente (3-3-2026)

Witness

February 21, 2026March 1, 2026Leave a comment

Witness by Valerie Parente

What is a world
if it has no witness?
This whole big universe
and if consciousness didn’t exist
neither would it.

Reality without mind
means no here or this
no big picture to see
without awareness.

So the next time you feel the slightest bit blue
remember every single beautiful thing that is, was, and will ever be
means nothing without you.

– Valerie Parente (2-21-2026)

Valkyrie

February 20, 2026March 1, 2026Leave a comment

Valkyrie by Valerie Parente

They told me to find a knight in shining armor
if I wanted someone to save me
so I polished my nails
and became my own source of bravery.

They told me to dull my shine
so that I wouldn’t distract
then pretended I never had
any power to take back.

They wanted me to yield my worth
and rely on the opposite sex
so I decided to wield my sword
and damn my own distress.

They tried to make me feel small
so I wouldn’t notice
that I am a force
to be reckoned with.

– Valerie Parente (2-20-2026)

I Was Born With Horns

February 14, 2026February 22, 2026Leave a comment

I Was Born With Horns by Valerie Parente

How dare you condemn my anatomy
when I was born with horns
it’s in my nature to have free will
what is mine is not yours.

How dare you make a mockery of me
when autonomy came with my birth
it’s in my DNA to choose how I live
what is personal is not discourse.

I decide what is right or wrong
for this body I’ve been squeezed into
that is not up for debate
if that makes me deviant
then innocence never existed in the first place.

– Valerie Parente (2-14-2026)

Seed

February 7, 2026February 7, 2026Leave a comment

Seed by Valerie Parente

I had a dream
that somebody asked me
how they can manifest their dreams
and I told them with unwavering certainty,
“First, plant a seed
water it
tend to it
watch it sprout
do it all attentively
then you will see
you are capable of growing something complete
out of something that was once just a belief
then you will understand
how to use your energy.”

– Valerie Parente (2-7-2026)

Meeting You Was A Lot Like Remembering

January 25, 2026January 25, 2026Leave a comment

Meeting You Was A Lot Like Remembering by Valerie Parente

Meeting you
was a lot like remembering
what I wanted
when I thought I’d forgotten.

Being with you
was a lot like recognizing
an answer to a prayer
when it was in the palm of my hands.

Nothing with you ever felt new to me
it felt like waking up and remembering a dream
like you’re just another quality of reality
like space and time and the air we breathe
like rhyme and reason and poetry
like you and me are meant to be.

– Valerie Parente (1-25-2026)

Night Vision

January 11, 2026Leave a comment

Night Vision by Valerie Parente

Every night becomes day
and every day becomes night
there is nothing permanent
about this fight that you fight.

When I was young I developed night vision
finding beauty in darkness all around
so I made that my main mission
to paint it all out, to write it all down.

You see these eyes, they adapted
as these pupils grew far and wide
thriving in the day as well as evening
now I’m twice as much alive.

It was scary at first
deciphering the shapes under the shadows
but that’s the glory in growing lucid
what was once a dream is now in your control.

I see you, I see it all,
you can run but you can’t hide,
I will see you again
next time with a third eye.