Let Your Hair Down by Valerie Parente
If there is such a world
that buries women in the ground
for letting their hair down
let my sisters see the light of day
when a tornado comes their way.
As they feel the movement in the air
tell my sisters, don’t be scared
that rush is just the feeling
of the wind in your hair.
– Valerie Parente (3-3-2026)
Echo Chamber by Valerie Parente
Reverberate
between polar opposite walls
two sides polarized
same anger, different drawls.
Surround yourself
by the hard headed
it’s like a mirror
just noise with a reflection.
The ideas you bring into the world
have a way of profound growth
as long as there’s a hardened surface
they come back one hundred fold.
This chamber, you made
thinking if the space is formal
then you can enact real change
but alas, we talk ourselves in circles.
Now did you know if it happens quick enough
the human ear can never tell
the difference between original sound
and the echoes from someone else?
So talk slow, listen carefully,
go outside, don’t stay in one room,
or the walls of your echo chamber
will eventually close in on you.
– Valerie Parente (12-7-2024)
Broken by Valerie Parente
You’re free from this world of suffering
and that’s a good thing
so why does it make me so sad?
Maybe to pray someone is at peace
means that I will never be.
– Valerie Parente (10-14-2019)
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