Knives for Tears by Valerie Parente
I had a nightmare
that I had knives
instead of tears
embedded under my eyes
from when someone stabbed me
but I survived.
I woke up
only to realize
it wasn’t a nightmare at all
but a beautiful sign
of my scathing resilience
when they thought I’d cry.
– Valerie Parente (5-10-2024)
Miniature House by Valerie Parente
I’ve always been a homebody
so I built myself a miniature house
and I figured if I shrunk myself
I’d fit perfectly on a trophy shelf.
Divided into pretty little rooms
turned two floors into my world
made my bed like a good girl does
but didn’t lay in it like I should’ve.
Instead I brought you into that domain
after three years, you wanted out
and like a nail too close to a coffin
I hid the hammer so the blow would soften.
You were so hardened to affection
I wasn’t sure if you even loved me anymore
and when I asked for concrete proof
you gave me concrete from the floor to the roof.
The writing was on the wall
but those walls were caving in
so silly little me played illiterate
to make the collapse illegitimate.
A broken home makes sense in hindsight
’cause I wanted infrastructure in the ground
while you wanted to live on four wheels
… but that was never part of the deal.
Now I’m content in my own space
I can finally breathe a sigh of relief
in this perfect miniature house
that could never fit a spouse.
– Valerie Parente (4-19-2024)
“Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“… That time heals the pain?”
“Yes, as time goes by you will smile at their memory instead of cry.”
“Is that because you start to forget about them?”
“No. You do not forget- you remember. You remember all those times together instead of that one moment you lost them.”
– Valerie Parente (1-6-2023)
Give Yourself Time… to Cherish the Given Time by Valerie Parente
Time really does heal the heart,
you can’t see it at the start
but someday those many moments of having them
will outweigh the one moment you lost them.
– Valerie Parente (6-17-2022)
Features “Sitting on Skulls and Bones”
and “Not Bionic”
from Moonchild Manifesto on Amazon.com
The Key To Happy by Valerie Parente
I didn’t get better because I got to love you
I got to love you because I got better.
I didn’t heal for you
I healed for me
and that is why
I am finally free
to truly enjoy
another being
without depending
on them for healing.
This is the honest truth
this is the real key
accept yourself
then enjoy company.
– Valerie Parente (7-6-2021)
Have you been enjoying my poetry? I love to post my work on valerieparente.com to act as a free library for my writing and art. That being said, if you would like a HARD COPY of my latest work (200+ poetry and prose pieces) you can support me by purchasing Moonchild Manifesto: A Poetry & Prose Collection on Amazon.com. (LINK HERE) Coping with the trauma that arises when you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder during a pandemic and heartbreak and also dealing with the leftover trauma from OCD and anorexia growing up are major themes in Moonchild Manifesto. There is a progression throughout the collection that begins with recognizing pain and heartbreak, transforms into reflection and how your mind could ever get to such a traumatized and obsessive point, and graduates into hopefulness through fantastical allegory-poem hybrids and personal poetic affirmations. Along with stomping out mental health stigma this collection has undertones of feminism, free speech activism, spirituality, and commentary on living through a pandemic. This is easily my favorite project thus far and I would love to share it with the world.
If you liked any of the following pieces on my website you will love them in a full collection that follows a trajectory from The Hurt, The Heal, into The Hope. Some fan favorite poems in Moonchild Manifesto are:
– Valerie Parente (7-5-2021)
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.
Antidote by Valerie Parente
There was a lot of angst and frustration
but the antidote to that bitterness
was to be exposed in all my distress
that’s why I documented it
knowing one day you would notice
and I didn’t care if you agreed
I just cared about being seen.
– Valerie Parente (5-26-2021)
Erudite by Valerie Parente
I went to hell and back,
studying my mental turmoil,
started as a kid with a task,
to get attention from the whole world.
When you’re a confused teen,
you feel so damn invisible,
then one special boy sees,
that’s when life got difficult.
I was always obsessive in nature,
and my imagination was a priority,
a perfectionist that was insecure,
so I excessively daydreamed.
I had talent back then,
but I didn’t use it for good,
I delved in sickness instead,
when one boy no longer looked.
Ten years gone, ten years dismissing,
that’s what the anorexia did,
ten years studying, ten years witnessing,
all the trauma adolescence inflicted.
It was circumstantial and biochemical,
and now I finally understand,
if there was any hope for normal,
I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance.
Now I’m a young woman with a pen,
and I’ve examined my psyche well,
as an expert on where I’ve been,
I make art in the name of mental health.
Believe it or not,
I wouldn’t change any single thing,
all the anguish I fought,
it helped me see another dimension.
There’s compassion in the stories I write,
there’s understanding behind each phrase,
there’s a past that helps me empathize,
there’s a purpose that will never go away.
I no longer think in terms of “me”,
I see your conscience and its fight,
my every move doesn’t need to be seen,
but I’ll shed light if it helps your life.
This is our world to better,
we are the children of the moon,
using psychology we study together,
out of the lunacy we’ve been through.
I’m going to nurture someone, someday,
in a cycle I finally want to be part of,
and that sentient bundle can embrace,
a worldview where mental health is honored.
– Valerie Parente (5-22-2021)
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