Tag: fantasy

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.

Warrior Princess

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Warrior Princess by Valerie Parente

Why be a damsel in distress
when you can be a warrior princess?
Be your own champion
instead of just waiting.
Get up and take action
and feel a new kind of passion
that does not heat or cool
on the whim of a man’s mood.

If you’re proud and poised
dictated by your own choice
they say you’re a tramp
because you don’t belong to a man
so screw being appraised
by your last, not first name.
You are entitled when provoked,
swing the sword on your own!

You are not to apologize
to settle or compromise
for the system thrust forth
the moment you were born.
You were always a warrior deep down
that’s why they created a crown
to distract you with a wish
to be a trophy to those you kiss.

It may sound crazy
but in this world it’s an act of bravery
to dare to feel beautiful
without a man’s approval.
You are a warrior princess
exquisite just because you exist
as you, your own being
despite what fairytales were preaching.

– Valerie Parente (4-13-2025)

Everything Is Magic

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Everything Is Magic by Valerie Parente

The wisemen say they don’t believe in magic.
They believe in reality.
But reality is magic.
You’ve just been conditioned not to see.

Symbols on a piece of parchment
can make you hear voices
see new worlds
weigh different choices.
They can prompt an epiphany
share cures or poisons
elicit joy or devastation
be one of the greatest forces.

Potions consumed from bottles
can perform a range of spells
course through your blood
send you to heaven or hell.
They can spark bravery
inhibitions, they can quell
they can make a shy man speak
become another version of himself.

Elixirs from the earth
are constantly feeding
giving energy to move
and keep your heart beating.
They fight off disease
they bind the bleeding
supercharged by a fireball
we call it sunlight gleaming.

Life creates life
from life, so it goes,
and in acts of love
we see another seed grow.
It’s all virtually impossible
but breath still flows
against all the odds
you exist, and you know.

The world is a magical place
the greatest fantasy we could ever witness
everything is extraordinary
the farthest thing from hopeless
you’ve just been taught
not to notice.

Alchemy

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Alchemy by Valerie Parente

Art
is just alchemy to the 5 senses
transforming the “pain in here”
into something beautiful in the atmosphere.

The Artist
can disturb or it can delight
evoking a feeling from the reeling
of their individual healing.

– Valerie Parente (11-24-2024)

Immaculate

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Immaculate by Valerie Parente

At the beginning God said,
“Let there be light”
but Luna was born
on a pitch black midnight.

So she grew up and lectured God,
“I don’t know who you think you are,
but I see so much cruelty around me;
the world is nothing but dark.”

And God looked at her and laughed,
“Sweet girl, you’ve got it all wrong,
you can see these things around you
because you are that light amongst it all.”

So she made it her mission in life
to spread light into the atmosphere,
and nobody knew where she came from
but they knew she was meant to be here.

– Valerie Parente (6-16-2024)

The Originator of Matter

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The Originator of Matter by Valerie Parente

The Originator of Matter
is she who can manifest
any object of her desire
using the heart in her chest.

She teaches her disciples
how to hone this skill
able to materialize objects
out of nothing but will.

“The key is not imagining the object existing
it is imagining how it will feel when it exists,
live as the impact is already real
and you will create your every wish.

The power of your will
is not through thought
the power of your will
is a feeling through the heart.

You must take on the feeling
as if you already have what you covet
because there is a future version of you
that already knows you’ve won it.”

– Valerie Parente (3-1-2024)

Water Into Wine

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Water Into Wine by Valerie Parente

Since the day Celine was born
she had the shadows on her mind,
drawn to the dark arts,
the antithesis to the light.

She turned to witchcraft
where she could dictate her own life
where there’s solace without man
and age is the measure of being wise.

The witch attended the sabbath
unafraid of what she might find
but that all changed
at the stroke of midnight.

An incubus himself
who was not inherently unkind
on the contrary, he was enticing
and he took advantage of her pride.

Hissing, “Through hell or high water,
I’ll be by your side.”
So the young witch taught herself
how to turn water into wine.

Though she could ward off evil
she was called ungodly in others’ eyes
for the church said, “You must be sober,
when you pray to the divine.”

Therein lied to greatest dilemma,
the finest of fine lines
between intoxication and medication
and to that she was blind.

Some people are predisposed
to a magic so clandestine,
destined to make the most
of the occult despite its crimes.

Celine always had a darkness in her
and for that, she had to at least try
to manipulate hell on the surface
before hell ruptured from inside.

The witch could feel a piece of heaven
in the potions fermented over time
but there’s no such thing as heaven
without a hell, she realized.

– Valerie Parente (2-10-2024)

A Daydreamer’s Cup of Tea

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A Daydreamer’s Cup of Tea by Valerie Parente

I tried to be pretty
so I became pretty creepy
memorizing the potential in a mental state
as if I never wasted it in the first place
losing the life in my complexion
because the real world pales in comparison.

I want to be the best
so I became the best at madness
believing there is a foolproof way
that the make believe can be made
so close I can almost taste it
but I’ve acquired a taste for the bullshit.

I long for something real
while denying the reality here
then I turn around and ask
“Why can’t you be grateful for what you have?”
and I can’t tell if I am my irrational thoughts
or the one who recognizes their implicit flaws.

On paper, it sounds insane
in person, it’s insanely mundane
I say I like it better in my mind
even though I’m more likable here on the outside
but when I try to merge the two scenes
I realize maybe I’m not anyone’s cup of tea.

The truth is, this daydreaming
is a state of mind with no defeating
because even if I achieved the dream
I’d still find solace in further fantasy
the mental and material are forever inverse
and I am my own worst enemy in this universe.

– Valerie Parente (11-10-2023)

Succubus

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Succubus by Valerie Parente

Milky eyes rolled
in the back of her head
they accuse the succubus
of stealing dreams from the men.

She’s only as good
as when they want to be around her
as if her morality
is tied to their arousal.

He can touch her
but she can’t touch him
just like she can lose her value
but he can only win.

Her pleasure, her lust,
a malevolence in itself
while he’s in high heaven
she’s going straight to hell.

They call her a succubus
because she likes to be exposed
that’s why they justify
putting a knife to her throat.

But they don’t know
she’ll stroke the knife with her tongue
because she taught herself
to like the taste of blood.