Paint The Stars With Blood (Part I)

September 6, 2022December 6, 2022Leave a comment

Paint The Stars With Blood (Part I) by Valerie Parente

Elissa painted the stars with her blood
back when she was numb
a little crimson magic
for the sky’s fabric
stained on purpose
because the creepers said it would be worth it
so she fulfilled that prophecy
when she was so damn naive
illuminating the region
with stars the shapes of demons
but the sun eventually rose
and she could see she was alone
that’s when she found the strength
to no longer identify with pain
it was the bravest thing she ever did
deciding she was more than her emotions.

– Valerie Parente (9-6-2022)

A Harpy’s Observation

June 10, 2022December 6, 2022Leave a comment

A Harpy’s Observation by Valerie Parente

The harpy fought her darkness
but vowed in her core
she would never haunt another.

Quite often she noticed
from her bird’s eye view
something ever so cruel.

All throughout the village
so many so called lovers
continuously hurt each other.

So she asked the lunar druid,
“Why are there so many toxic pairs?”
and to that he declared.

“Damaged people damage people
when mental health defects
remain unchecked.

Yes we all have a dark side
and I shall not fault one for their darkness
unless it goes unaddressed.

So many become a pair
and they foster displacement
from their own self-hatred.

You must at least try
to find healing in yourself
before you find love in someone else.”

– Valerie Parente (6-10-2022)

Abandoned Castle

March 7, 2021June 24, 2021Leave a comment

Abandoned Castle by Valerie Parente

She thought she had it all figured out
when she was young
dreaming of a big grand castle
glowing under the sun.
She thought she would live in a fairytale
when she grew up
dancing in a glorious castle
a place to fall in love.

The years piled on
the castle’s appeal faded.
Some say she grew up
some say she grew jaded.
Love is not as simple
as the moss that covers stone.
Dreams are not meaningful
until you fail, then you grow.
Now ivy on the walls
climbs up so very tall
and with dreams so big
she began to feel small.
That’s when the abandonment happened
and she realized fantasies can cause harm
often inflated by a toxic desire
so she decided to move on.

Tale be told, she abandoned her castle
but that is no more than folklore;
she didn’t abandon that castle
that castle abandoned her
and that turned out to be
the castle’s greatest favor
for when the fantasizing ceased
she began to enjoy the real world.

– Valerie Parente (3-7-2021)

Damsel in Distress

April 28, 2016May 16, 2016Leave a comment

“Damsel In Distress” by Valerie Parente

Growing up I admired the damsel in distress in every movie I watched. The scenes that got me most excited? When an emotionally invested prince caught a glimpse of his princess in trouble. Not the spectacular moment right before when he swooped in on a stallion or right after when he saved the princess by slaying a dragon, but that exact moment in between. That fleeting succession of frames where the prince’s poignant eyes fixed on the princess writhing in her conflict and you could see him processing the sight. That, to me, was the pinnacle of romantic. The simple act of boy witnessing girl. And, in hindsight, I think that warped level of infatuation that I had as a child alluded just how prevalent daydreaming would be to my emotional being. Because that moment when the prince watched his true love suffer wasn’t some concrete action of heroic proportions with no substance further than what it offered visually. That moment was an intimate connection where one character mentally absorbed the dire state that another character was in, and it gave me as a wide-eyed viewer an empathetic opportunity to freely imagine what prince charming and his straining heartstrings might be feeling regarding his beloved. And that practice of fantasizing his emotions through the infinite flux of my own imagination provided nothing but ecstasy for the emotional daydreamer in me.

– Valerie Parente (4-28-16)