The Seven Swords

The Seven Swords (A Fantasy Chronicle) by Valerie Parente

He was an elven warrior,
wielding a mighty sword,
an Excalibur that glowed,
in dire times of war.

There were six other swords,
each emanating a vibrant hue,
violet, indigo, green, yellow,
orange, scarlet, and his was blue.

This elf belonged to the clouds,
his people charged the stars,
on a stratosphere of temples,
each lighting up the dark.

Sky-born elves were peaceful,
up until a decade ago,
when archangels from underground,
took the stars as their own.

Ever since that catastrophic heist,
the world was never the same,
all creatures lived in the dark,
using torches to illuminate.

That’s when the seven swords
broke their hibernation,
their glow was the key,
to defeating hell’s nation.

The blue sword resided in a raincloud,
violet was stored on the lilac beach,
indigo hid away in the catacombs,
green perched in the forts of trees,
yellow in the sunlight chapel,
orange in the nymph observatory,
and scarlet in the wicked forest,
that guarded hell from enemies.

All seven swords were retrieved,
by different breeds of man,
elves, witches, trolls, and more,
each ready to take a stand.

Every retrieval was its own tale,
but that is for another day,
today we discuss the battle,
that took place at hell’s gates.

The archangels fought hard,
to keep the world in the dark,
but the seven swords fought harder,
to find the light that was lost.

For seven days and seven nights,
the battleground was on fire,
and sword after sword,
illuminated like a lighter.

The archangels were defeated,
by the myriad of colors,
and every time one deceased,
they exploded like no other.

A rainbow of brilliant rays,
shot up like a beam to the sky,
and each archangel carcass,
became a new kind of starlight.

Ever since that fateful day,
the blue sword became a symbol,
absorbing the light in the sky,
that once belonged to the dismal.

We learn from the seven swords,
that sometimes the darkest minds,
just need a little spark,
to surrender to the bright side.

– Valerie Parente (4-16-2021)

The Spider Princess (A Fantasy Chronicle)

The Spider Princess (A Fantasy Chroicle) by Valerie Parente

There once lived a Spider Princess,
deep in the catacombs,
the tombs were her kingdom,
where she reaped what was sewn.

Some say she was enchanted,
some say she was cursed,
finding patterns in everything,
making webs out of words.

She conjures the ancient wisdom,
that belonged to the spiders,
having studied their magic,
and all they’ve inspired.

These webs that she made,
were connected to the dead,
bound by silver cords,
to create spiritual webs.

She sees the interconnection,
all is eternal, all never ends,
like star maps and constellations,
there’s always a common thread.

When loved ones came to grieve,
in the glorious underground shrine,
the Spider Princess bestowed gifts,
tapestries beyond space and time.

Every mother, every father,
every widow in the village,
came to the Spider Princess,
begging to send a message.

Over the years the Princess learned,
more often than you’d expect,
it wasn’t the dead needing to be heard,
it was the ones who were left.

Just the words “I’m okay”,
“All is well, you can rest”,
were enough to relieve the living,
when she wove her silver webs.

It was a heavy duty, for sure,
but the Spider Princess didn’t mind,
she knew how important words were,
for those who are still alive.

– Valerie Parente (4-10-2021)

For the Love of Fantasy

For The Love of Fantasy by Valerie Parente

Nothing has ever made me feel more alive,
than turning a stream of consciousness into fantasy rhymes,
bringing to life dark fairytales that pull at heartstrings,
taking a subtle mood and honing the art of exaggerating.
The beautiful quality of fantasy and daydreamed worlds
is that nothing is literal, it’s all a hypothetical metaphor,
and just because I am the narrator of something literary
does not mean I’ve mistaken my story with reality.
I’m inspired by what’s in my psyche, not the world outside
creating scripts for daydreamers who don’t feel whole in real life.

– Valerie Parente (8-13-2020)