Tag: allegory

The Damsel & The Demon (INTRO)

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The Damsel & The Demon
by Valerie Parente

There once was a Damsel named Daphne
and when she was just a girl
she started having intrusive thoughts
that drew her to the underworld.

There stood the kingdom of Nefaria
ruled by a soul sucking Demon
he preyed on the vulnerable
by giving them something to believe in.

With the incessant rhymes in her head
the Damsel turned to the Demon for relief
tolerating and even aiding
the damned souls he heartlessly reaped.

But in a moment of profound strength
Daphne had a change of heart
she felt the fire in her own soul,
all it took was one spark.

From that day began a journey
where her codependence would be unlearned
finding a power within herself
Daphne would be the Damsel no more.

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The Damsel & The Demon by Valerie Parente

The Damsel & The Demon OUT NOW

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The Damsel & The Demon by Valerie Parente

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The Damsel & The Demon is a poetry/fantasy story hybrid (verse novel) meant to be an allegory for the healing process, whether that be healing from addiction, a toxic relationship, a traumatic event, or anything in between. Valerie drew inspiration from her personal struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder and anorexia to create this Allegory for Healing through the lens of the main character, Daphne. For both Daphne and Valerie, fleeting feelings can only exist as fixations, and the rhythmic stanzas of an internal dialogue, playing like poetry, is the conduit between the mentally disordered author and the hexed protagonist of this story. There is so much beauty in healing, but healing is still ever so messy, uncovering darkness where we expected light and vice versa. Determined to create this massive poem with no help from search engines or AI, Valerie made it her mission to come up with every rhyme on her own; turning to the internet for help was forbidden. As a result, The Damsel & The Demon is an authentic fantastical dark fairytale scripture rich with revelations and an aim to help readers everywhere see themselves in the damsel archetype as well as the ailment they struggle to separate from in the demon.

Valerie Parente is a writer and artist from Massachusetts whose bodies of work often explore the theme, “Finding beauty in darkness” and general mental health awareness.

Sol Purpose

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Sol Purpose by Valerie Parente

What I am
and what I could have been
is what the moon is to the sun
when you compare them.

A fireball of brilliant light
so much potential in action
and I am no more than a rock
whose light is but a fraction.

Though I’ll tell you something about the sun
it hovers alone above the horizon
but when the moon is out
billions of stars join the environment.

To be bright and sole
or to be dim but glistening
one leaves all blind
one reveals purpose in the end.

– Valerie Parente (5-28-2024)


Water Into Wine

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Water Into Wine by Valerie Parente

Since the day Celine was born
she had the shadows on her mind,
drawn to the dark arts,
the antithesis to the light.

She turned to witchcraft
where she could dictate her own life
where there’s solace without man
and age is the measure of being wise.

The witch attended the sabbath
unafraid of what she might find
but that all changed
at the stroke of midnight.

An incubus himself
who was not inherently unkind
on the contrary, he was enticing
and he took advantage of her pride.

Hissing, “Through hell or high water,
I’ll be by your side.”
So the young witch taught herself
how to turn water into wine.

Though she could ward off evil
she was called ungodly in others’ eyes
for the church said, “You must be sober,
when you pray to the divine.”

Therein lied to greatest dilemma,
the finest of fine lines
between intoxication and medication
and to that she was blind.

Some people are predisposed
to a magic so clandestine,
destined to make the most
of the occult despite its crimes.

Celine always had a darkness in her
and for that, she had to at least try
to manipulate hell on the surface
before hell ruptured from inside.

The witch could feel a piece of heaven
in the potions fermented over time
but there’s no such thing as heaven
without a hell, she realized.

– Valerie Parente (2-10-2024)

The Undead Mermaids (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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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)

Moonchild Manifesto SUMMARY

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NEW BOOK HERE

Have you been enjoying my poetry? I love to post my work on valerieparente.com to act as a free library for my writing and art. That being said, if you would like a HARD COPY of my latest work (200+ poetry and prose pieces) you can support me by purchasing Moonchild Manifesto: A Poetry & Prose Collection on Amazon.com. (LINK HERE) Coping with the trauma that arises when you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder during a pandemic and heartbreak and also dealing with the leftover trauma from OCD and anorexia growing up are major themes in Moonchild Manifesto. There is a progression throughout the collection that begins with recognizing pain and heartbreak, transforms into reflection and how your mind could ever get to such a traumatized and obsessive point, and graduates into hopefulness through fantastical allegory-poem hybrids and personal poetic affirmations. Along with stomping out mental health stigma this collection has undertones of feminism, free speech activism, spirituality, and commentary on living through a pandemic. This is easily my favorite project thus far and I would love to share it with the world.

If you liked any of the following pieces on my website you will love them in a full collection that follows a trajectory from The Hurt, The Heal, into The Hope. Some fan favorite poems in Moonchild Manifesto are:

  • Let Go
  • Fishnets
  • The Moon & The Third Eye
  • Venus Fly Trap
  • Like My Dolls
  • These Laurels Were Not Meant To Rest
  • The One That Got Away
  • Your Wardrobe
  • Change, So Bittersweet
  • Why?
  • The Picures I Paint
  • You Look Like You’ve Seen A Ghost
  • In The Jungle
  • Pamper Yourself
  • The Spider Princess
  • Wind Up Toy

– Valerie Parente (7-5-2021)

Seascape

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Seascape by Valerie Parente

You think the answer is out there,
so it’s time to set sail,
engulfed in the seascape,
and its nautical tales,
hoping for mermaids,
creatures we’ve never seen,
set sail, this sweet ship,
a metaphysical discovery.

You think you’re just a ship,
lost in the ocean,
the truth is you’re the tide,
implicitly in motion,
waves of the mind,
here before your birth,
man did not make you,
nature spawned you first.

You think when you’re shipwrecked,
that it is the very end,
the truth is, you’re set free,
no more need to pretend,
part of the blue mystery,
so much bigger than you,
connected with everything,
the current becomes your truth.

– Valerie Parente (4-7-2021)