Starry Eyed by Valerie Parente
Stardust on my eyes
pretend I am surprised
by the darkness of the night
when you know damn well I’m starry eyed.
I would never see
the constellations and their beauty
without the contrast of the night
black like the pupils in my eyes.
Rejoice my friend
this is all our eyes’ reflection
light and dark are the same principle
and from here on out you are invincible.
– Valerie Parente (7-30-2022)
Poetic Justice by Valerie Parente
Is it sick to say
the pain enriches my life
or am I fooling myself
with another literary device
the irony of my disorder
the alliteration of my confines
the tendency to poetic justice
for the fear of all randomized.
Pain must have meaning
it must have meaning, otherwise
all love does not extend
past the time of my demise.
Yes it must be full of meaning
at the other end there is a light
and if it weren’t for the darkness
love could not be recognized.
– Valerie Parente (4-29-2022)
The creeper only came out at night, terrorizing the community with messages of vanity. The creeper swore she meant well, but no member of society believed her.
The creeper had one argument to make before the angry mob in order to defend her vanity.
“Is it so wrong to be a visual person? Is it so superficial to prefer what is aesthetically pleasing to the pupils? If so, I can pinpoint exactly where on the spectrum my thoughts go wrong. Because I possess a black or white mindset that can only think in extremes. Dark or light to touch the eyes. And I chose the dark because the light is blinding.”
As the bold civilians sympathized, the timid civilians empathized.
-Valerie Parente (12-15-2016)
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