Fire Games by Valerie Parente
“The thing about playing with fire,”
remarked the squire,
“is that, make no doubt,
you will get burnt out.
You played games
with dangerous flames
for over a decade
and you forgot that burns
never fully fade.
Be cool with your words,
you aren’t the young blood you once were.”
– Valerie Parente (8-5-2022)
Features “Sitting on Skulls and Bones”
and “Not Bionic”
from Moonchild Manifesto on Amazon.com
Shadow Sign by Valerie Parente
Shadow Sign
you weren’t the light of my life
you were just the shape in which I had been traumatized
I thought you were what I wanted
after all these years of being haunted
because the truth of the matter is
I was never really his
and that unofficial kind of bliss
had me tracing my steps with darkness.
Because Shadow Sign
you were never mine
and with your outline I realize
you weren’t the problem, you were its signal
not something that I was ever meant to rekindle
a simplification of the self
implied light from somewhere else
and that’s the truth to mental health
I looked for love when what I needed was help.
– Valerie Parente (7-21-2021)
That’s The Moon by Valerie Parente
Look up high
at the night sky.
See that? That’s the moon
it’s not an excuse
it’s an explanation
to something complicated
something I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand
but when I break it down as a symbol I stand a chance
to make sense of the voice inside
this methodically mad mind.
Do you see that? That’s the moon
and it belongs to you too.
– Valerie Parente (6-16-2021)
Jackalope by Valerie Parente
You’re just a mythical thing
a hybrid through taxidermy
jackrabbit ears
antlers that pierce
formulated after death
a concept used to make sense
of the world we don’t know
my dear jackalope.
You’re just a mythical thing
you screwed me up that morning
that’s why I’m a creature of the night
but that pain will not define
the way you broke me down
so broken but whole now
a fusion of my dual states
dark and light in the same place.
You’re just a mythical thing
two real entities mixing
to make one hell of a tall tale
and my mind went off the rails
a little truth behind the love
a little make-believe teenage crush
you got out, never quite mine
I had grace but I was chaos inside.
You’re just a mythical thing
made from the backstabbing
you don’t know me
you know a girl so naive
when I had you in my palm
before we sabotaged it all
but I’m content tonight
I found someone that felt right.
You’re just a mythical thing
my omen, my warning
you don’t play God with nature
you don’t tamper with your maker
that’s when you lose your appetite
become emaciated over night
that was no way to live
nearly got myself killed.
You’re just a mythical thing
a story I was telling
now you’re a thing of the past
and I won’t bring that pain back
a little bit of truth combined
became a tall tale over time
and I’m okay letting go
farewell, dear jackalope.
– Valerie Parente (6-6-2021)
Cherry Blossom Scent by Valerie Parente
I always liked the cherry blossom scent
and how it made me feel in my adolescence
just a school girl with a crush
before I was too scared to touch
with potential towering so high
before I channeled it into a demise.
I died once before, so sickly thin and jaded
it changed my brain chemistry and how it operated.
Took over a decade to undo those patterns
never gone, never lost, but now I know how to battle.
I’m stronger now, from the inside out
it happened for a reason, I trust that now.
Everyone has a challenge, and this was mine
multiple mental illnesses, merging and intertwined.
It’s that smell of cherry blossom hand sanitizer
my mind goes back, but this time I’m wiser.
So it is, my perception, ripened from the strife
I’m here now, I’m breathing, and I wouldn’t change this life.
– Valerie Parente (5-28-2021)
Erudite by Valerie Parente
I went to hell and back,
studying my mental turmoil,
started as a kid with a task,
to get attention from the whole world.
When you’re a confused teen,
you feel so damn invisible,
then one special boy sees,
that’s when life got difficult.
I was always obsessive in nature,
and my imagination was a priority,
a perfectionist that was insecure,
so I excessively daydreamed.
I had talent back then,
but I didn’t use it for good,
I delved in sickness instead,
when one boy no longer looked.
Ten years gone, ten years dismissing,
that’s what the anorexia did,
ten years studying, ten years witnessing,
all the trauma adolescence inflicted.
It was circumstantial and biochemical,
and now I finally understand,
if there was any hope for normal,
I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance.
Now I’m a young woman with a pen,
and I’ve examined my psyche well,
as an expert on where I’ve been,
I make art in the name of mental health.
Believe it or not,
I wouldn’t change any single thing,
all the anguish I fought,
it helped me see another dimension.
There’s compassion in the stories I write,
there’s understanding behind each phrase,
there’s a past that helps me empathize,
there’s a purpose that will never go away.
I no longer think in terms of “me”,
I see your conscience and its fight,
my every move doesn’t need to be seen,
but I’ll shed light if it helps your life.
This is our world to better,
we are the children of the moon,
using psychology we study together,
out of the lunacy we’ve been through.
I’m going to nurture someone, someday,
in a cycle I finally want to be part of,
and that sentient bundle can embrace,
a worldview where mental health is honored.
– Valerie Parente (5-22-2021)
Do you want to own a hard copy of my latest poetry?
My third poetry and prose collection is currently in the works and includes fan favorites such as:
Not Bionic
These Laurels Were Never Meant To Rest
The Spider Princess
Material Girl
Seascape
Like Fine China
Poetry: Sight and Sound
Fishnets
Pamper Yourself
Celestial Being
…and over 150 more pieces!
Make sure to Follow this blog, valerieparente.com, to stay up to date for the new book release!
There Is A Reason by Valerie Parente
Contrary to popular belief
I did not choose this pain,
it chose me.
I did not choose to fixate,
my mind was already made.
I did not choose to restrict,
it was in my genetics.
I did not throw my life away on that fateful day in ninth grade,
it was meant to happen to teach me about compassion when you rise from the ashes.
I was predisposed to every mental hoax so that my soul could know true spiritual growth.
– Valerie Parente (2-1-2021)
The Girl In The Mirror by Valerie Parente
I killed the girl in the mirror
when I was a 14 years old student
and every day I resent myself
even though I didn’t know what I was doing.
That girl in the mirror had it bad
and that wasn’t so peculiar.
Nobody that age knew how to act
but I still held it against her.
I make decisions now
with the mirror girl on my mind.
I’m trying to make her proud
because I owe her my adult life.
– Valerie Parente (1-4-2021)
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