Memento Vivere

October 4, 2025October 5, 2025Leave a comment

Memento Vivere by Valerie Parente

When hatred took a life
and people gathered to grieve
the Devil cruelly boasted
about the havoc that he wreaked
praising the power of hatred
when there is tragedy.
He looked out to all the people
and he shamelessly teased,
“How could you pitiful humans
see catastrophe then denounce me?
Look how people come together
because of the hate I unleashed!”
But the clouds began to part
and the angels looked down lovingly
as the humans who still lived
engaged in their ceremony
watching the overflow of love
in the name of rest in peace.
“People do not come together because of you,”
the angels said with ease,
“People come together in spite of you
and any form of catastrophe.
The power does not stem
from the hate you have breathed
it comes from rejecting the hate
and the Devil’s very defeat.
Hate has no power on earth
it only temporarily fleets
and what withstands after you
is their newfound unity.”

– Valerie Parente (9-30-2025)

Be Strong

July 21, 2019July 21, 2019Leave a comment

Be Strong by Valerie Parente

I have a million reasons why I love being around you
and that’s the one reason why I have to learn to be without you.

Artists reality

– Valerie Parente (7-21-2019)

A Writer’s Threat

June 4, 2019June 4, 20191 Comment

A Writer’s Threat by Valerie Parente

For years I have been my own muse.

If I make you my muse then you have done the near-impossible… you have overthrown my ego. Congratulations, you are divine in my eyes.

Just hope to God that you’ve become my muse for enchanting my life, not for inflicting senseless pain. Because if you try to write me off then I’m going to turn the writer on. If you ask me to stop then guess what? You just gave me a new prompt. I can orchestrate a symphony of sentences that will touch you to tears or I can arrange a thousand words into your personal hell. Both will pierce your heart ten times stronger than you pierced mine. And when you read what’s on my mind you better actually listen to the message and cherish the emotional chords it strikes, good or bad, because a storm of more rhymes and literary devices are about to head your way and tear apart every piece and particle that once constructed your comfort zone… and that’s going to continue happening with more and more force until I become your muse.