Bite Me! by Valerie Parente
Tell me to shut up
close my mouth
as you bare your teeth,
you chew me up
then spit me out
as you please,
so tell me why you’re so offended
when I say “Bite Me!”
It’s almost as if you’re not offended by the content of my words
but the fact that I had the audacity to dictate what happens to my body first.
– Valerie Parente (12-20-2025)
Pepper Spray by Valerie Parente
Men say they’re better at tolerating the pain
so I say, hey! What’s a little pepper spray?
They can handle the weights, but can they handle the word “no”?
While we handle the weight of a man’s world on our bones.
Us women are tearing up because we’re feeling the depth,
these men are tearing up when we wreak self-defense.
I’m not saying it’s a competition, who’s the better sex
but one bleeds to create life, the other bleeds when life ends.
These men’s eyes may burn, they’re eyes may grow wet,
maybe then they’ll understand how it truly feels to be on edge,
running to our cars, gripping pepper spray for dear life
locking our doors, worrying we’ll be the next sacrifice.
– Valerie Parente (12-13-2025)
A Siren’s Threat by Valerie Parente
If I were a siren
I’d kill men too
lure them to the fishnets
they forced me into.
We are more than the sex
to which we have been reduced
may we serenade men to death
for all the times they’ve been cruel
because mother nature’s silhouette
is in the shape of a typhoon
and when they get shipwrecked
they won’t feel our grooves
only the ocean’s depths
under the pull of the moon
and this world would be no less
if anything, improved.
– Valerie Parente (11-29-2025)
Prey by Valerie Parente
“What do damsels attract most?”
“Princes!”
“No. Predators.”
They glamorized putting ourselves in danger
for the thrill of being saved
thinking the peril would make us a princess
but all it really made us was prey.
– Valerie Parente (9-1-2025)
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.
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.
Check Mate by Valerie Parente
These men have checkered pasts
so these women have to play chess
strategic in who they let in their space
using gut feelings, but from the chest.
A queen maneuvering across the world
going up, down, right and left
so much power in her movements
yet they still call her second best.
And when it’s time to choose a mate
she must do more than glance or check
because it’s not just a game at the end of the day
and sliding away is better than cornered to death.
– Valerie Parente (7-2-2025)
One Woman
by Valerie Parente
One woman’s empowerment
is another woman’s degradation
and if you’re wondering who gets to decide
the answer is one woman,
one woman at a time.
– Valerie Parente (6-23-2025)
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)
The False Promise of the Damsel in Distress
by Valerie Parente
I don’t think enough girls were taught the difference
between being in love and being obsessed,
so many stories of womanhood
were really stories of sickness,
that to attract a man
you have to be a damsel in distress,
that happily ever after was the goal
and your journey before was meaningless.
They taught us that pity
means he endlessly cares
and that negative attention
means love is in the air.
They said there has to be an obstacle
you can only overcome with him there,
that your accomplishments are null
unless a prince witnessed the despair.
So here’s to the girls
who broke their own hearts
taking on the damsel archetype
before adulthood could even start.
We are not ruined beyond repair,
we’re just a little scarred;
may we raise our daughters
as we raise our bars.
– Valerie Parente (3-28-2025)
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