The Devil On My Shoulder Is So Pretty by Valerie Parente

The devil on my shoulder
is so pretty.
She whispers poetry in my ear
that’s so sickening.
Because she used to be an angel
but she fell from grace
and now she lurks in the shadows
of my mental states.

Her horns represent
something so appealing
the idea of the subconscious
in the shape of a demon.
She is narcissism, she is vanity,
the root of evil.
She is the assignment of good and bad,
the concept of ego.

She tempts the pragmatic mind
like a moth to a flame.
She claims chaos and destruction
explains the pain.
But tell me why I have morals
deep in my core
tell me why light and love
will always conquer.

The devil on my shoulder
is just a breath.
She accompanies my life
like the idea of death.
She is creation
whispering in my ear
she is just a thought
a philosophical idea.

– Valerie Parente (5-17-2026)