Tag: intrusive thoughts

Accidental Invocations

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Accidental Invocations by Valerie Parente

I’m scared to let my hands touch each other
in case I have an intrusive thought,
because then God might mistake it for praying
for something that I don’t want.

When I lie down to sleep
I make sure I separate my hands
because what if I think bad things
and invoke my own nightmares?

I scramble to apologize
in case God is listening
but how can I rescind the lies
with the same voice that sins?

But then I remind myself
God’s language is genuine,
He need not know my words
because He knows my intentions.

If the universe had a voice
He would speak through energy
anxiety wouldn’t make a dent
to the creator of the grand scheme.

Fear no accidental invocations
from the obsessive compulsive thoughts,
God doesn’t reach us in the brain
He only reaches for the heart.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2026)

Fear of Fear

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Fear of Fear by Valerie Parente

I told myself not to think bad thoughts
but that was an impossible mission
because to try to ignore something
is to fail at ignoring it, by definition.

The fear of fear,
it’s a tricky little pest
what you’re afraid of might not be here
but you’re still afraid, nonetheless.
The fear of fear is a reality
and you are its loyal witness
don’t try to wish it away
don’t even try to resist
it can only lose its potency
once you accept that it exists.

– Valerie Parente (9-7-2025)

Voices

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Voices by Valerie Parente

Your mind was still your mind
when you were too young for words.
You were someone before you could define
anything in this world.
That’s how I know when your thoughts are unkind
it is something separate that creates the hurt.
You are the thing behind
the whispers that float forth.

You are not the voices in your head,
you are the choices you make
after hearing them.

– Valerie Parente (6-10-2025)

If Only My Thoughts Could Fly Away

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If Only My Thoughts Could Fly Away by Valerie Parente

Crossed my legs and started to pray
that my thoughts could just fly away
but they’re delicate, so I confined them
inside a cage of the like-minded.

These thoughts have a life of their own
beautiful ravens that don’t know where to go
I tell them, “It’s okay, go with peace”
but they don’t know who they are without me.

The feelings are mutual between the thinker and the thoughts
but maybe it’s time to align with an outside cause…
so to those darklings with feathered wings
I bid you farewell from your upbringing.

– Valerie Parente (1-7-2024)

Don’t Cry for Me

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Don’t Cry for Me by Valerie Parente

My innocence was bid
once I had unwanted thoughts
so don’t you dare patronize me
with a sign of a cross.
You beg for my forgiveness
from the very same God
that gave me my condition
when I didn’t ask to be flawed.
I make my own power
in the way that I respond
that is in my control
and your control of me is lost.

– Valerie Parente (12-22-2023)

Quandary

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Quandary by Valerie Parente

Am I my irrational thoughts
or am I the one that recognizes their insanity?
Could I be innocent
now that I think of it?

– Valerie Parente (12-10-2023)


Heresy

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Heresy by Valerie Parente

Who am I
to declare what is
and isn’t
right?

And who are you
to decide which words are
and are not
taboo?

What is
an intrusive thought
if not
an act of God?

It all means nothing
until you assign it meaning
so wield your power
like it’s the only thing to believe in.

– Valerie Parente (11-18-2023)

WITCH

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WITCH by Valerie Parente

If I was held accountable
for all my INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS
they’d burn me at the stake
then call it an ACT of GOD.

– Valerie Parente (11-1-2022)

Seraphic Daydreams

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Seraphic Daydreams by Valerie Parente

Hope has always been so much bigger than the pain and the recovery,
Seraphic daydreams have always been the predominant part of me,
An ideal reality I blew into the air, as natural as the wind,
but I worried about the intrusive thoughts that persist,
and the truth is, you can think all you want,
but it’s belief in the heart…
that is the real charge.
I do not fear my demonic OCD fixations anymore,
because I know they don’t represent my angelic core.

– Valerie Parente (5-10-2021)