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Starving Artist

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Starving Artist by Valerie Parente

Eat your words and be compelled
to doubt the passion within myself
when you say I’m not a successful artist
because I haven’t made a profit
that I’m supposed to make money from my art
but I only spend money making art so far
struggling to make it accessible
striving to make it impressionable
but I guess I’m just a “starving artist”
scrambling for coins in empty pockets
how am I supposed to hide from depression and inaction
when I’m standing in the open begging for traction
and the “starving artist” in me starved before
the teenager with anorexia as her mentor
my talent used to be limiting my intake
now my talent is having something of value to say
so don’t you dare preach to me about starvation
when I already mastered the art of deliberate deprivation
if the world really insists on giving me this title
I’m going to be hellbent and entitled
when you use the label “starving artist” again
I’ll eat your words while rhyming them.

– Valerie Parente (9-28-2025)

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.

Sunlight Chapel (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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The Sunlight Chapel (A Fantasy Chronicle)

The sunlight chapel
was filled with treasures
that mankind cannot
begin to measure.
You will see Sol priestesses
when you enter,
and you will be greeted
by floating embers
suspended between breaths
of the chapel’s dwellers
wearing golden dresses
and crowns of amber feathers.
These priestesses will teach you
for they’re oh so clever
harnessing wisdom from light
they’re energy is tethered
to the mighty sun
no matter the weather.

The world is full of pain
and the night will always test
the darkness of the sky
like a hole inside your chest
but the Sol priestesses know
this wisdom above the rest,
At the end of the day
you can go to bed a mess
but come the morning light
your mindset must reset.
Every morning the sun rises
is a morning you are blessed.
Every morning arrises
and you are its witness;
the sunlight lives in you
and don’t you dare forget.

– Valerie Parente (9-15-2023)

she is the tree whisperer (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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she is the tree whisperer by Valerie Parente

Little baby girl
found at the bottom of a tree
nestled in the moss
along the tree’s anatomy
but she was not alone
in her perfectly sound sleep;
for the lullabies of the tree spirits
kept her warmth and company.

Found by three druids
but raised by two
they named her Sylvianna
under the wake of the moon,
offered her a home in the village
but she kindly refused
because there with the tree spirits
she felt connected to her roots.

Sylvianna grew to know the forest
like the back of her hand
from the tip of her toes
to her antennas of branch
receiving the whispers
from the lay of the land
learning about lifetimes
far beyond man.

With nails like claws
Sylvianna climbed to her kingdom
a network of treehouses
where she learned from the brilliant.
For there is a reason that trees
are known for their wisdom
because they’ve heard it all
throughout the ecosystem.

She is the tree whisperer
and she is one with the Nightingale forest
protecting the very territory
that granted her solace.
She had the option to leave
nature’s cruelty and harshness
but she whispered to herself,
“I’d much rather be haunted.”

Ravenheart (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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Ravenheart (A Fantasy Chronicle) by Valerie Parente

Illihana was born with a Ravenheart
a sanctum dark as midnight
so debilitating in its comfort
making a cozy life from her demise.
Each vein black and branching out
scaring off every knight
like spiderwebs on her skin
or cracks on a doll so pallid white.
This blackness, it infected it all
every touch, every thought in her mind
she couldn’t control its presence
so she hid during the daylight.
She made a home with her ravenheart
grooming pride instead of spite
isolated from the fear she drew near
and in men’s fear she started to thrive
emboldened by the way her beauty
was so personal and precise
something too scary during the day
and too camoflouged to touch at night.
The grit, the grime, the gore
was never worth a common man’s fight.
But Sir Dovetail was no common man
he was so resilient in all his light.
The prince spoke to her in the pitch black
getting to know her dark side
and he didn’t care to run away
even when she cried.
The love was glorious, the love was grand
the love made her start to realize
that isolation that once consoled her
no longer felt like a source of pride.
When she had to leave her prince before dawn
she wished she could leave the ravenheart behind.
She could accept the darkness for her sake
the way its wrath made her writhe
but what she could not come to accept
was the way it impaired his life.
Though never once did he express distress
never once did he resent her strife
but she knew that deep down
he missed having her in sunlight.
Illihana emerged from her cave
with dark veins in plain sight
and as the townspeople stared
so did Dovetail in delight.
When he finally saw her blackened heart
he couldn’t help but notice her beautiful eyes
so big and bold and brave
and oh he loved how they shined.

– Valerie Parente (2-11-2022)

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)

Moonchild Manifesto: A Poetry & Prose Collection by Valerie Parente AVAILABLE NOW

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AVAILABLE HERE

Moonchild Manifesto by Valerie Parente is a body of work that documents the parallel between two acts: feeling a profound connection and making it your whole mood, and taking a topic and making it your artistic muse. There is a similarity between poetry and the spell we call love. A Moonchild is hyper-sensitive to this similarity and understands how it is equally enchanting as it is taxing. Divided into three moon phases, this poetry and prose collection follows the subconscious trajectory of The Hurt, The Heal, and The Hope.

Valerie Parente’s third poetry and prose collection manifested out of what she does best, mixing psychology, spirituality, and fantasy to make sense of her mental experiences as both a human being with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and a whimsically dark artist.

Fever Dream

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Fever Dream by Valerie Parente

It should not be hard to believe
her manifesto is written in poetry
a declaration of every insight
she finalized with the moonlight.
A quill pen in her hand
from the feather of a phoenix
and her tempo flows and flows
a silver tongue put to a scroll.
That poet’s name, it’s Valerie
a doll manifesting her fever dream
collecting lessons like mannequins
while she learns to love again.

– Valerie Parente (6-5-2021)