Tag: love

The Butterfly Effect

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The Butterfly Effect by Valerie Parente

When I think of my life’s journey
every event in retrospect
had infinite potential
but it led me to this one breath.
The odds of us crossing paths
and meeting the exact way we met
was virtually impossible
it all had to line up so perfect.
And now my heart flutters
to the beat of the butterfly effect
because I can’t help but believe
this universe has a divine depth.
For so long we were in separate places
but we shared the same chrysalis
while I was getting better
you were becoming your best.
Teach me about your previous life
and I’ll take it from here for the rest
now it’s our beautiful life
as we emerge from metamorphosis.

– Valerie Parente (10-12-2025)

Memento Vivere

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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)

Blue Lips

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Blue Lips by Valerie Parente

You say, something about the cold
and how it makes you depressed
like the whole world goes dark
and you lose all interest.

You say, the cold is like death
but for me I feel alive
because we can only see breath
when it’s cold outside.

I say, something about the cold
and how it makes my lips blue.
Well at least when I’m cold
I’m the color of you.

– Valerie Parente (8-24-2025)

Remember

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Remember by Valerie Parente

When it’s all said and done
and all you have left
are fuzzy memories of someone
you might not remember the conversations you had verbatim
you might not remember their laugh and their cadence
you might not remember what you did on a random Tuesday night
you might not remember the reason for a random Wednesday drive
as time goes on you might not remember
the person in your head
but the one thing you will always remember
is how much you loved them.

– Valerie Parente (8-12-2025)

The Sun

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The Sun by Valerie Parente

I miss you so much
it burns so deep
but like the Sun
I know you watch over me.
Like the Sun
I can never see you directly
with these little human eyes
in this little human body
but I can feel your warmth
and I know your heat
and even though I can’t reach out and touch you
I know you reach for me.

– Valerie Parente (7-17-2025)

In Your Orbit

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In Your Orbit by Valerie Parente

In your orbit
I am more than enough
just like a planet
who’s found her sun.

It once seemed aimless
the path I embarked
but it was all predestined
written in the stars.

I would go on untethered
bound to no such rotation
if it weren’t for you
or the gravity of the situation.

In your orbit
I will never stray
I could go around the world forever
with the pull of your weight.

– Valerie Parente (5-19-2025)

Flood

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Flood by Valerie Parente

Numb
numb
numb
then like a flood
I felt it all
grief, guilt, but most of all
the feeling of being loved
and I could never be mad
at the way my loved ones loved me
when I was incapable
of feeling sorry
because they were the ones that cared
when I was too scared
and they cried
cried
cried
like a flood
in dry air.

I feel it all now
for all those times that I caused pain
and I just want my support system to know
the love was never in vain
the storm clouds are gone
but I am here, I remain
and I am more grateful
than a flower is to rain.

– Valerie Parente (5-9-2025)

Get A Grip

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Get A Grip by Valerie Parente

They said “Get a grip!”
but I wouldn’t listen
because my favorite place
used to be in my head
but that wasn’t a place
it was a method
of coping with all
that remained unsaid
in the real world
when I felt abandoned
so I taught myself
to daydream instead.

It wasn’t until
that grip loosened
I learned who I was
and felt alive again.
I was able to create
when I’d reflect
and it was actually better
than I could ever imagine.
No more make believe
no more need to pretend
flesh and bone was superior
even if it bled.

You are my totem
my rhyme and reason
the thing that reminds me
that I am human.
You are my awakening
my reality check
the thing that made it all
begin to make sense.

You are now my favorite place
an existence I can understand
and when they say “get a grip”
I will hold onto your hand.

– Valerie Parente (4-10-2025)

Irrevocable

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Irrevocable by Valerie Parente

In my anxiety
I imagine
if I lost it all
and in my anxiety
I imagine
my reaction
to if I lost it all
and the first thought that comes to mind
is “I’ve had such a great life”
because something about being without
makes me realize how unfathomably blessed I’ve been
and in what I lack in the present tense
I’ve gained the ability to see how the universe once filled that space
and to be able to recognize a miracle
is an irrevocable miracle in itself.
The world can decay and the universe can evaporate
but to no longer be blind to how life was great
is not a loss, it’s a gain.

– Valerie Parente (3-15-2025)