Caution Tape by Valerie Parente
There’s caution tape
inside my mind
a labyrinth
of words and lines
wrapped around
like ivy or twine
and I don’t know
if I’m the type
to make the most
of warning signs
or if I’m simply
one of a kind
in a maze of trickery
I accidentally cosigned.
Maybe it’s wrong
maybe it’s right
maybe caution tape
is just a means to highlight
the potential in the darkness
that I can’t see inside
so I stand here guessing
what fate might decide.
– Valerie Parente (10-8-2022)
Thunderstorm Ritual by Valerie Parente
The thunderstorm ritual,
light a candle,
open the windows,
and with every flash,
wait for the clap,
because this life,
its lightening fast,
written in the stars,
there is a crack,
striking a light,
from your past,
it already happened,
but it comes back,
the flicker of a moment,
never loses its impact.
Revel in the storm
like it’s your last.
– Valerie Parente (7-16-2022)
SALVATION (A Mask) by Valerie Parente
Saving lives
and ruining lives
are two very different things
but often the ones who promise salvation
are the ones that follow it with condemnation
and it is this very intolerance
that muddies all common sense.
They say they want to help
by creating a concept of hell
but they don’t really want to save your soul
they just want power and control.
True salvation doesn’t come from a hierarchy or rules
true salvation comes from acceptance with the truth
and the truth is there’s something within
that makes you ever so resilient.
– Valerie Parente (7-15-2022)
Unread by Valerie Parente
Nothing hurts more
than being unread,
it’s like everybody sees me
without the depth.
Blame it on narcissism,
blame it on sickness,
but I’m sick of my book
being closed on your desk.
Each page is crisp,
sharp on the edge.
I told the whole story
now be my witness.
Please open me up
and read all my subtext.
– Valerie Parente (2-18-2022)
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.
The Femme Fatale by Valerie Parente
That woman holds the serpent
doing as she pleases
and wouldn’t you like to know
that’s why they call her deviant.
They gave her scarlet horns
so she adorned them with charms
reminders of her intentions
from the moon and the stars.
That woman is in charge
that’s why they call her malevolent
she didn’t kill any man
she killed man’s dominance.
– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)
Horns by Valerie Parente
I used to wear a halo,
now I wear horns,
it wasn’t my intention,
until I was scorned,
leaving the garden,
where roses have thorns,
and I didn’t come out,
unscathed from the storm,
when the sky cleared,
I was weathered and worn,
and the horns began to sprout,
from the temples I adorned.
It wasn’t immediate,
it came from hindsight,
for ten months I went,
trying to rationalize,
dissecting where and how,
I could be the bad guy,
then the news broke,
that I was in the right,
but I still wear these horns,
they comfort me at night,
’cause I can be the demon,
instead of a damsel in demise.
The townsfolk are skeptical,
for whom I vouch for,
I understand the fright,
but I’m better than before,
the uncertainty is gone,
I am no longer unsure,
there is no insecurity,
I am no longer unmoored,
if he hurts me again,
it will hurt him a hell of a lot more,
the worst already came for me,
but then I grew these horns.
– Valerie Parente (3-29-2021)
No Longer Playing With Fire by Valerie Parente
She was playing with fire
for so long
so she wasn’t really sure
how to stop
igniting flames out of pain
to create art
making a hellscape from words
that came from the spark
but now that the hell she felt
is dead and gone
and it’s time for learning
in the place she taught
because when she was in pain
she felt smart
but now that there’s joy
she’s a little lost
no longer playing with fire
to light up the dark
maybe one day at a time
is a good start
leaving the ashes behind
along with the scars
because the spark has returned
to where it belongs
and no fire will run wild
for it’s safe in her heart.
– Valerie Parente (3-14-2021)
These Laurels Were Not Meant To Rest by Valerie Parente
Imagine, imagine, imagine.
When the world is mundane
I give it my passion
another artistic era
to rise from the ashes.
Create, create, create.
People say I should be satisfied
but I need to formulate
an endless stream of words
from this mental landscape.
Another rhyme, another day,
another opportunity for artistic display.
These laurels were not meant to rest,
in this garden I’ll always progress,
so ever-evolving, so evergreen,
like the creativity that lives within me.
– Valerie Parente (2-26-2021)
Compatible Toxicity by Valerie Parente
There is no bad guy,
it is not you or I,
everyone has a toxic side,
everyone is inherently kind,
those positives can combine,
for compatible good times,
but a problem will arise,
if your toxic traits are compatible with mine.
– Valerie Parente (2-23-2021)
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