Starry Eyed by Valerie Parente
Stardust on my eyes
pretend I am surprised
by the darkness of the night
when you know damn well I’m starry eyed.
I would never see
the constellations and their beauty
without the contrast of the night
black like the pupils in my eyes.
Rejoice my friend
this is all our eyes’ reflection
light and dark are the same principle
and from here on out you are invincible.
– Valerie Parente (7-30-2022)
Meraki by Valerie Parente
I’m okay
crying blood
because it shows me
what I’m made of.
– Valerie Parente (1-9-2022)
Moonchild Manifesto by Valerie Parente is a body of work that documents the parallel between two acts: feeling a profound connection and making it your whole mood, and taking a topic and making it your artistic muse. There is a similarity between poetry and the spell we call love. A Moonchild is hyper-sensitive to this similarity and understands how it is equally enchanting as it is taxing. Divided into three moon phases, this poetry and prose collection follows the subconscious trajectory of The Hurt, The Heal, and The Hope.
Valerie Parente’s third poetry and prose collection manifested out of what she does best, mixing psychology, spirituality, and fantasy to make sense of her mental experiences as both a human being with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and a whimsically dark artist.
Quintessence by Valerie Parente
You didn’t have to try too hard with this one,
it came from the quintessence,
picking up that brilliant oak wand,
tracing words, not weapons,
they’ve been harnessed from spirits,
the whispers from the heavens,
the damned called you mad,
but you were really just present,
hearing what is here all along,
commentary from another dimension,
you can hear it if you choose to live,
and then learn from your lessons,
your scars are your wisdom,
may you honor their impression,
and at the end of each day,
you will feel the quintessence.
– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)
Spectrum by Valerie Parente
It’s a matter of fact
I still wear a lot of black
’cause I don’t want to distract
from the artwork’s impact.
My brain never stays silent
that’s why I love violet
it’s the color of my mindset
and every word I rhyme best.
Ever since the day I bled
I’ve been a little afraid of red
but I’m making it represent
the passion in my chest.
Now I’m talking to you
somber shades of blue
you’re just a point of view
I could get accustomed to.
That’s why I graduated my scene
to ripe gradients of green
’cause you represent my dream
to find wisdom in agony.
I’m trying to balance my mind
so I’m wearing more white
since the darkness highlights
when I look on the bright side.
– Valerie Parente (6-12-2021)
Catharsis by Valerie Parente
When she asked “How do you deal with the toxicity of the public?”
I said “Write, write, write,
channel all your frustration in creation,
create, create, create,
channel all your energy into artistic placement,
paint words into memorable phrases,
find meaning in the oddest places,
make a collection of your lessons,
help the lost find their blessings,
the hardship will always get better,
and the wisdom goes on forever,
find your catharsis and give it away,
translate the world that lives in your brain,
be the God you want God to be,
and then you will find your peace.”
– Valerie Parente (6-7-2021)
I Want To Be Heard by Valerie Parente
It’s not that I want to be famous,
it’s that I want to be heard,
and I know I can touch you,
if you get in touch with my words.
I took a lot of carefully constructed time,
from a child to the adult I am now,
I try my best to add a positive spin,
a piece of beauty in an ugly crowd.
There is nothing more important than a voice,
I realized that when I was a sick teen,
and if you don’t like what you hear,
you sure as hell have the right to intervene.
I saw a lot of talk about mental disorders,
that glamorized the illness over healing,
and I knew right then and there,
I wanted to patch over the bleeding.
There are always silver linings to our pain,
and it took a long time for me to see them,
but the one thing that saves me every day,
is the process of creating and artistic freedom.
I didn’t go through hell for nothing,
mental health awareness is the goal,
there’s a darkness we can manipulate,
shedding light in the shadows.
Make it meta, make it metaphorical,
make these poems layered infinitely,
I’ve got your back and that’s a promise,
if you’re kind enough to listen to me.
– Valerie Parente (6-7-2021)
Dirt by Valerie Parente
I strolled back to that field of dirt
where the trauma was at its worst
and suddenly I’m twelve again
and I feel absolutely no different.
So much dirt on my hands
Like I didn’t stand a chance
Because I was way too deep
In the dirt beneath my feet.
And I can see it now
The seeds meant to sprout.
The place where I was supposed to grow a garden
But a bunch of rowdy kids interrupted the harvest.
Throwing dirt at my name
When I was at that critical age.
My mind is twenty-six years old and it hasn’t forgotten
All the times those kids teased me just for talking.
“Do you want to dance with her?” some girl asked,
“Never,” the popular boy laughed.
It’s taken me a decade and a half
To realize I’ve been wearing that past,
Attracted to the trauma of being unwanted
That’s why I fall for men who aren’t options.
And I’m fairly certain there’s a part of me
That’s been trying to understand why I was teased
That’s why I looked for the worst in myself
And fell into an adolescent kind of hell.
Back then I just dismissed and dismissed
Because I knew that kids will be kids.
In a way I was more sensible back then
Because now I feel the need to openly obsess.
That’s why I visited this field of dirt in the first place
I figured it was about time to unearth that pain.
I’m not upset, I’m not mad.
I just wanna know what about me was so bad
That they felt the need to throw that dirt
When I was just a twelve year old girl
Minding my own business in my own garden
Planting a future I almost walked in.
Its not about trying to re-hash old wounds
It’s about trying to get to the root.
Because there’s trauma under this ground
and I think I’m ready to dig it out.
There is so much beauty in retrospect
Because as I look back, the clouds roll in.
Now the rain is coming down
And those seeds are finally ready to sprout.
– Valerie Parente (12-10-2020)
The Beauty of Darkness (IV) by Valerie Parente
Make no mistake,
we are not victims.
We have been hurt
but know no division.
Because the things that bring us anguish
unite us within.
A profound understanding
of what it means to be human.
– Valerie Parente (11-9-2020)
The Beauty of Darkness (III) by Valerie Parente
I do not feel shame
when I am in pain;
I feel grace.
Pain gives you the opportunity to create
something authentically great
from a negative space
and it shows the utmost grace
when you can find honor
in an unfavorable mental state.
– Valerie Parente (11-6-2020)
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