What A Pretty Hill To Die On

June 15, 2025Leave a comment

What A Pretty Hill To Die On
by Valerie Parente

What a pretty hill that is
you chose to die on
climbed all that way
just to watch your town burn
took so much commitment
and sold your soul
using your last breaths
to cough up smoke.

Tell me, was the grass greener
on the other side?
Were you happier
being part of the lie?
Did you die as you lived,
succumbing to hate?
Did you use your influence
to fan the flames?

No that’s not a pretty hill
you chose as your cemetery
beneath the surface
you were once exemplary
but you used your good fortune
to cash into the institute
that never would have thought
to die for pretty little you.

– Valerie Parente (6-15-2025)

Everything Becomes Art

June 14, 2025Leave a comment

Everything Becomes Art by Valerie Parente

Everything she touches
turns to art.
Every challenge
a writing prompt.
Every dream
a metaphor.
Every breath
a lesson learned.

– Valerie Parente (6-14-2025)

Rhyme & Reason

June 12, 2025June 13, 2025Leave a comment

Rhyme & Reason by Valerie Parente

I give the world meaning
applying rhyme and reason
because I can’t bring myself to believe in
thoughts without feelings.

For it all to be worth it
I write it down in verses
externalizing the imperfect
into patterns on the surface.

When I break down the rhythm
like flashing colors in a prism
the nonsensical drivel
starts to sound like wisdom.

I give the world depth
making beauty from the mess.
What is creation if not a breath?
To wipe away the fear of death.

– Valerie Parente (6–12-2025)

Voices

June 10, 2025June 16, 20251 Comment

Voices by Valerie Parente

Your mind was still your mind
when you were too young for words.
You were someone before you could define
anything in this world.
That’s how I know when your thoughts are unkind
it is something separate that creates the hurt.
You are the thing behind
the whispers that float forth.

You are not the voices in your head,
you are the choices you make
after hearing them.

– Valerie Parente (6-10-2025)

A Mouthful of Crystals

June 7, 2025June 7, 2025Leave a comment

A Mouthful of Crystals by Valerie Parente

Years ago I drew a picture of a girl
with crystals in her mouth
and I couldn’t remember
if they were going in or coming out.

I realized the answer depends
on how I feel now
empty and unfulfilled, begging to fill a hole inside
or full of emotion, like I need to express what’s on my mind.

Funny how the big picture
morphs to mimic your perspective;
the world is only as set in stone
as a crystal is reflective.

– Valerie Parente (6-7-2025)

Forbidden Fruit

May 31, 2025May 31, 2025Leave a comment

Forbidden Fruit by Valerie Parente

Temptation isn’t temptation
without a moral compass
and sin isn’t sin
without omniscient justice.
But who gets to say
what is and isn’t forbidden?
Who are you really spiting
with the apple you’ve bitten?
How can you say my nature is evil
if I was created in His image
then turn around and say He loves me
without any conditions?

I’ve deprived myself long enough
thanks to willful ignorance,
starved myself
thinking I would be different,
felt the bones of my ribcage
with blind commitment,
realized I lost half my life
to a sick and twisted vision,
then rose from the dead
with a whole new mission;
I will sink my teeth into fruit
regardless of permission.

– Valerie Parente (5-31-2025)

Mirror Mirror

May 26, 2025October 5, 2025Leave a comment

Mirror Mirror by Valerie Parente

Mirror mirror
on the wall
why do you lie
to girls so small
they turned to you
and asked what’s wrong
then you showed them themselves
and did them harm.
Don’t speak about fair
when innocence is involved
you are no bastion
of truth at all.

– Valerie Parente (5-26-2025)

Temple

May 25, 2025May 26, 2025Leave a comment

Temple by Valerie Parente

A place of worship,
they call it a temple
but it is not a building
it is the soul’s vessel.

Like a shrine, you are sacred
embodying something larger than life
a spirit that extends flesh
but this temple gives it sight.

If you knew how irreplaceable you are
you would never lose faith again
that you were meant to be here
despite the where, why, and when.

– Valerie Parente (5-25-2025)

In Your Orbit

May 19, 2025May 19, 2025Leave a comment

In Your Orbit by Valerie Parente

In your orbit
I am more than enough
just like a planet
who’s found her sun.

It once seemed aimless
the path I embarked
but it was all predestined
written in the stars.

I would go on untethered
bound to no such rotation
if it weren’t for you
or the gravity of the situation.

In your orbit
I will never stray
I could go around the world forever
with the pull of your weight.

– Valerie Parente (5-19-2025)

Mermaid Hair & A Little Black Dress

May 11, 2025May 14, 2025Leave a comment

Mermaid Hair & A Little Black Dress
by Valerie Parente

Mermaid hair and a little black dress
one for my inner child
one for her last breath.

Because I wasn’t ready
to grow up just yet
so when I felt wronged
I found poetic justice.

They said “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
and I said “a girl with mermaid hair”
for all the times as a kid
that I was too scared
of the fateful hour glass
and its ground of sand
so I stuck my head in the clouds
not all quite there
regressing and digressing
into my own fairy tale.

They said “dress as the impression you want to give”
so I wore a little black dress
’cause black goes with everything
and I’m an artist
breaking down reality
so it all makes sense
to little kid me
and the woman she respects
so that one fateful day
the heart in my chest
will end its marathon
with little to no regrets.