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Tag: Moonchild Manifesto by Valerie Parente
Moonchild Manifesto: A Poetry & Prose Collection by Valerie Parente AVAILABLE NOW
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.
From A Mile Away
From A Mile Away by Valerie Parente
When you realized I was your teammate
I saw it coming from a mile away,
that’s why I tried to steer you towards a path
when it wasn’t really my place to ask,
and now I understand I was too compromised
by an infatuation that soared beyond my pride,
and when it all blew up in the worst way
I saw it coming from a mile away.
I understand now why I didn’t stick around
and even though it brought on a pain so profound,
I’m so glad I learned how to rely on no one else
to take care of my ever-evolving mental health.
– Valerie Parente (3-30-2021)
Hedge Maze
Hedge Maze by Valerie Parente
Hedge maze, nature made,
this confusing mystery,
then man came with sheers,
to make me feel pretty.
I didn’t ask to be planted,
when I became a seed,
sharp corners you touch,
in a labyrinth of evergreen.
You must get through the brush,
if you want to see,
what it’s like to love,
and be loved effortlessly.
I stumble through this maze,
it’s so new to me,
even though these hedges,
are my anatomy.
I am one with this path,
and it is one with my pleas,
never straying too far,
from the dream I dreamed.
I trust where it goes,
without a map to read,
even when I get lost,
I’m never out of reach.
I give you this hedge maze,
if you give me your feet,
we’ll do this together,
navigate this journey.
– Valerie Parente (4-23-2021)
The Architect
The Architect by Valerie Parente
She who wears the claw of chrome,
upon her right hand,
can create worlds,
from a pathological plan.
It’s the illness in her defective bones,
that whispers the blueprint,
adjusting the world order,
to rebuild from the ruins.
She’s made it her grand mission,
to map out this pain,
now it’s her duty,
to make a home out of a maze.
With bright pink locks of hair,
she has your attention,
they agree with the task,
but don’t understand the reference.
She’s called a freak when she lays it out,
with her architectural mind,
but her cultural impact,
is an outcome that doesn’t lie.
She has an eye for constructing it all,
knows where to lie the stones,
knows where to build up,
knows where to dig a hole.
Everybody wants the stigma to vanish,
but rarely do they realize,
that to see past the roadblocks,
we need to open our eyes.
– Valerie Parente (6-16-2021)
The Femme Fatale
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)
Divine Design
Divine Design by Valerie Parente
There’s no such thing as coincidence,
there has to be design,
because how can I find the perfect words,
that just so happen to rhyme?
You’re telling me poets are just lucky?
That language just so happens to coincide,
that there’s rhythm to the psyche,
that can be written in artistic lines,
that the material world naturally mirrors,
the effortless world inside my mind?
No, I don’t believe in luck,
I believe in the divine,
based on every one of your points,
used to describe otherwise.
– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)
Your Wardrobe
Your Wardrobe by Valerie Parente
They wrapped you up
when you were born
covered your autonomy
in societal norms.
How do you express yourself
when you can’t be loud?
How do you wear your psyche
while it wears you out?
How can this be you
but not what you’re about?
How do you untangle your episodes
from the threads on your clothes
wrapped in a neurotic wardrobe
when all you want is to be exposed?
– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)
Quintessence
Quintessence by Valerie Parente
You didn’t have to try too hard with this one,
it came from the quintessence,
picking up that brilliant oak wand,
tracing words, not weapons,
they’ve been harnessed from spirits,
the whispers from the heavens,
the damned called you mad,
but you were really just present,
hearing what is here all along,
commentary from another dimension,
you can hear it if you choose to live,
and then learn from your lessons,
your scars are your wisdom,
may you honor their impression,
and at the end of each day,
you will feel the quintessence.
– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)
Nemesis (Not Me)
Nemesis (Not Me) by Valerie Parente
I’m finally happy
and my OCD still found me.
I see you in my dreams
with a tangible body
but when I go to defeat you
you’re the nemesis that continues
like a chain that keeps repeating
in a relationship so uneven.
I see you in so many forms
using my sweet slumber to return
and I punch, I kick, I scream
I wrestle to separate from the enemy
and I get oh so frantic
to justify my antics
begging the peers before my eyes
to understand that I’m the good guy
that I am separate from this disease
but then I wake up and it’s not a dream.
I still have this sickness on my skin
when I’m awake I’m still hallucinating
and it’s hard to believe I used to be afraid
convinced I’d be so lost without this charade
but now that I’m full grown I finally see
that this disease is nothing without me.
You’re just a sickness that attaches
used my puberty to take advantage
and I was far too young to understand
that your golden offer was a cruel scam.
How dare you stick yourself to me
even when my brain is asleep?
How dare you attack those I love
as if my entire psyche wasn’t enough?
And even though I’m so damn exhausted
by the nemesis in my subconscious
I’ve finally found my grace and solace
knowing I can manipulate you as an artist.
– Valerie Parente (6-13-2021)
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