The Carrier by Valerie Parente
You have been given the greatest honor
when your loved one is visible no longer
and now you get to carry them with you
in everything that you do.
It will be challenging some days
but you will always find the strength
because wherever there is hurt
there was love there first.
There will be confusion but it always comes back
to this everlasting fact:
that loved ones remain forever within
so you never have to be alone again.
– Valerie Parente (5-16-2022)
Narcissistic Empathy by Valerie Parente
The way I empathize,
is through narcissistic sight,
I know you have eyes,
because I have mine.
– Valerie Parente (6-19-2021)
Lovestruck by Valerie Parente
Let’s talk about society
and how it lives inside of me.
Every mannerism, every inflection
spreading like a viral infection,
’cause you’ve been part of me
like an antidote to autonomy.
Something so delicate and rare
happens every time I care,
I surrender my own needs
and this narcissist starts to bleed.
Let’s assume caring is a kind of magic
capable of halting all the madness.
Every self-indulgent display
and I start to look away,
’cause I’m blinded by the glow
emanating from your soul.
Something everyone can wear
but I only see it when I care
and that’s the very empathy
that saves me from me.
– Valerie Parente (3-28-2021)
The Key To Empathy by Valerie Parente
It’s not narcissism
it’s recognizing your pain
as it is a mirror
of my mental state.
It’s empathy
individualized
when I look
into your eyes.
I don’t reach this understanding
by thinking about my soul
I reach it
when I see you have your own.
– Valerie Parente (3-18-2021)
An Empath’s Tangent by Valerie Parente
Sometimes I think I’m feeling my own feelings but I’m really just feeling your feelings because I’m so sensitive to your senses and I make sense of it like it’s my sensations so I start to care too much when you don’t care at all and I’m not sure how to take care of myself without trying to take care of someone else.
– Valerie Parente (3-12-2020)
Hyper-Sensitive Super Power by Valerie Parente
I am a super sensitive being
I attach myself to feelings
even though I know beyond reason
that the attachment causes a deep heaviness
as I force the emotions to linger in my chest
terrified by the way people simply forget
it’s a bad habit that makes me look insane
because I remember every single thing you say
yet I wouldn’t have it any other way
because I can see light in a world of shadows
the hyper-awareness weeds out the people who are shallow
and inflicts deeper meaning in the people I value
I know there is power in my sensitivity
that this is either going to be the thing that kills me
or the thing that saves me.
– Valerie Parente (3-4-2020)
Old Soul by Valerie Parente
You think I was born yesterday
Because of all the things I don’t say
In a sense, yes, I’m inexperienced
But don’t mistake innocence with ignorance
We all have a third eye, the mind’s spy
Sometimes it’s best to pretend mine is blind.
I haven’t made the same memories as you
But the memories I’ve made give me a clue
It’s something called empathy, you learn as you live
Based on our own journey we learn what to give
And I’m giving off a vibe that I don’t recognize the signs
While I’m laughing inside because I’ve lived the same lie.
No I wasn’t born yesterday
I’m just an old soul in this new age
Recalling what it means to be human
Through a lens focused on how you’ve been
The question isn’t if I understand your side
The question is why do I still try.
– Valerie Parente (9-27-2019)
Empathy by Valerie Parente
The most alive
I’ve ever felt
was when I empathized
with someone else.
– Valerie Parente (6-11-2019)
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