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)
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.
Obsidian Dagger by Valerie Parente
If you think about messing with her
think again,
she’s got this obsidian dagger
in her right hand,
ready to cut you up
into a celestial blend,
fall out of touch
you’ll get the glossy edge,
a ritual of writing
ready to commence,
her way of fighting
a black glass weapon,
make no mistake
it’s all self defense,
for this ebony blade
she’ll never lament,
she takes a phrase
like a witch in a garden,
praising mental states
for the efflorescence,
dare you take her art
under a false pretense,
she’ll slice you apart
then wish you the best,
’cause she comes from stardust
the same place you’ve been,
but a language monarch
can bring you back to heaven,
she’s only just begun
so due and diligent,
with that silver on her tongue
and a dagger of obsidian.
– Valerie Parente (5-22-2021)
Grab Your Crystals by Valerie Parente
She cracked open her chest
and pulled a cluster of crystals out
ready to thrive again
like rain after the longest drought.
The world was shut down
and she was shut off
locked away in a cave
growing rocks in the dark.
Some rocks were iridescent,
picking up hues from her moods,
some rocks were rose colored wands,
sharing a beautiful body of truth,
some rocks were translucent towers,
pointing to her next move,
some rocks were marble orbs,
reminding her what she had to lose.
So grab the crystals you’ve been saving
in the shape of a heart
hold them up to the sunlight
and watch your dark side depart.
– Valerie Parente (4-13-2021)
The Crystal Tree by Valerie Parente
There is a plant that sprouts
though not from a seed,
it spawns from a gem.
They call it the crystal tree
and when it’s full grown
sparkling prisms it breeds,
dangling from ebony branches,
a quartz and amethyst variety.
All the boys and the girls
like to go crystal picking,
plucking off shiny rocks,
in return a prophecy is given,
reflecting the constellations
that the stars have written.
Each crystal shows a path
specific to all the children.
One day young Elissa
wandered through destiny’s groves.
Eager for some direction
she plucked a droplet the color of rose
and ever since that day
she thought in poetry and prose
making a living through words
recording her conscience in rows.
Sometimes we find guidance
in the depths of nature
discovering ultimate truths
for man is its mirror.
We can sparkle, we can shine
and nothing is dearer
than the clarity of our instincts
and an intuition that is clearer.
– Valerie Parente (11-25-2020)
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