Blue Lips by Valerie Parente
You say, something about the cold
and how it makes you depressed
like the whole world goes dark
and you lose all interest.
You say, the cold is like death
but for me I feel alive
because we can only see breath
when it’s cold outside.
I say, something about the cold
and how it makes my lips blue.
Well at least when I’m cold
I’m the color of you.
– Valerie Parente (8-24-2025)
sick in the head by Valerie Parente
I used to curse my teenage self
for wanting to be sick in the head.
30 years old
and I finally comprehend
that anybody who wants to be sick in the head
is already sick in the head.
– Valerie Parente (8-20-2025)
Summoning by Valerie Parente
They told me to face my demons
but my demons have the same face as me
so I looked myself in the mirror
and said “you don’t scare me” on repeat.
Funny how I possess these demons within myself
yet they come out to possess me
getting sick was a summoning by accident
deciding to heal was a summoning purposefully.
Like a ritual, the darkness resurfaces
but you’ll realize, through this hell
that you are also your own guardian angel
because only you can save yourself.
– Valerie Parente (8-18-2025)
Remember by Valerie Parente
When it’s all said and done
and all you have left
are fuzzy memories of someone
you might not remember the conversations you had verbatim
you might not remember their laugh and their cadence
you might not remember what you did on a random Tuesday night
you might not remember the reason for a random Wednesday drive
as time goes on you might not remember
the person in your head
but the one thing you will always remember
is how much you loved them.
– Valerie Parente (8-12-2025)
Meraki by Valerie Parente
I’m okay
spilling my guts
into everything
that I touch.
I don’t mind
crying blood
because it shows me
what I’m made of.
I’m content
throwing up
all the words
that I love.
I’m at peace
putting a piece of me
into everything that I do
so that when this body decays
a little piece of me lives on with you.
Light Pollution by Valerie Parente
It’s not normal to be so bright
all of the time
and the more you force it
the less meaning you’ll find.
If you’re plagued by the artificial
you might as well be blind
because the light pollution
blocks out the natural skies
and there’s a reason we live
in a world that turns to night;
it is not to make you sad
it is meant to highlight
that you’re entitled to be somber
it is your natural right
but the stars can take it from here
so turn off the lights.
We don’t need all this pollution
and the push to be contrived
you don’t need to fake a smile
you are allowed to cry
that duality is night and day
and what it means to be alive.
– Valerie Parente (8-3-2025)
Guardian Angel (You) by Valerie Parente
You always felt
like someone was with You
watching You
experiencing You
empathizing with You.
You today
watches past You
and everything
You’ve gone through
just as future You
watches You today
and everything
You will ever face.
It is, was, and will always be You.
Guardian angels are real
and You are living proof.
– Valerie Parente (7-25-2025)
Never A Stranger by Valerie Parente
They say when you fall in love
you fall in love with a stranger
but you were never a stranger
I dreamt of you every night
you were never absent
you were just out of sight.
I always felt you
even when the world was pitch black
you were a spark of light
my perfect match
lighting the way
so that we could cross paths.
They say you fall in love with a stranger
but there is nothing strange about it.
I’ve been led here today by the belief
that I’d recognize you in a room so crowded
and I was right to live for this anomaly
because I knew how strange it wasn’t.
– Valerie Parente (7-24-2025)
How Can Nothingness Exist When You Are My Everything by Valerie Parente
You were with me
in my darkest hour of life
so I will be with you
when the darkness devours the light,
nothingness
could never separate me from you
you are my everything
the one thing that is true.
– Valerie Parente (7-22-2025)
The Sun by Valerie Parente
I miss you so much
it burns so deep
but like the Sun
I know you watch over me.
Like the Sun
I can never see you directly
with these little human eyes
in this little human body
but I can feel your warmth
and I know your heat
and even though I can’t reach out and touch you
I know you reach for me.
– Valerie Parente (7-17-2025)
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