Tag: innocence

The Carnival is Back in Town

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The Carnival is Back in Town
by Valerie Parente

The carnival
is back in town
and it gives me a feeling
so profound
the way we build it up
just to tear it down
like our expectations
before we all found
that the promise of adulthood
wasn’t safe and sound
it’s a game of chance
to outgrow these clowns
but that ferris wheel
it still goes around
same crazy ride
with a different crowd
and year after year
on these fairgrounds
you remember when life was fair
but it’s not fair now.
There was an innocence then
that childhood allowed
but if you listen carefully
you’ll still hear it loud
the sound of the carnival
when it’s back in town
a fleeting state
that cannot be bound.

– Valerie Parente (5-16-2026)

Sand Castles

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Sand Castles by Valerie Parente

When you’re a child there are as many possibilities
as there are grains of sand
so you begin to assemble them
into castles, so grand.

Something about having the whole world ahead of you
filled every moment with a sense of awe
you could be anything someday
so you chose to create something small.

Little sculptures from your little mind
before that mind expanded beyond something safe
with no concept of the sadness of time
how waves will always come to wash it all away.

You grow up and you realize
your sand castles were never meant to last
and every grain of sand
will return to the ocean, so vast.

It’s not about it being over
it’s about the memories that withstand
past, present, and future recycle over and over
into another child’s little castles made of sand.

– Valerie Parente (7-7-2025)

Goodbye Girlhood

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Goodbye Girlhood by Valerie Parente

She knew it,
the day her Girlhood was dead and gone
it wasn’t a loss of innocence
in fact, it wasn’t even a loss.

Instead of deprivation
she was filled with awe
that her Girlhood even existed
regardless of how long.

In its place
gratitude had spawned
and she didn’t lament
instead she felt strong.

She was enriched
by who she once was
and she returned to the earth
to give back to a greater cause.

There is a prize with death
when you see life from above
and from that vantage point
you know how far you’ve come.

You’ll never know it was worth it
until the end of the song
and when you listen from a distance
you’ll know you’re where you belong.

– Valerie Parente (2-16-2024)

Old Soul

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Old Soul by Valerie Parente

You think I was born yesterday
Because of all the things I don’t say
In a sense, yes, I’m inexperienced
But don’t mistake innocence with ignorance
We all have a third eye, the mind’s spy
Sometimes it’s best to pretend mine is blind.

I haven’t made the same memories as you
But the memories I’ve made give me a clue
It’s something called empathy, you learn as you live
Based on our own journey we learn what to give
And I’m giving off a vibe that I don’t recognize the signs
While I’m laughing inside because I’ve lived the same lie.

No I wasn’t born yesterday
I’m just an old soul in this new age
Recalling what it means to be human
Through a lens focused on how you’ve been
The question isn’t if I understand your side
The question is why do I still try.

Felicia

– Valerie Parente (9-27-2019)