Raven Reverie

January 11, 2026January 11, 2026Leave a comment

Raven Reverie by Valerie Parente

I had a vision
of a lady in a gown
but it was a bird cage
where a raven could be found.

I saw it all in a dream
a future I could articulate and pronounce
so I plucked a feather from the raven
and I wrote the whole thing down.

I believe in manifestation
and there were hints all around
like that feeling of remembering
when something new played out.

There were moments in my life
where a clue was said out loud
and I knew it was speaking to my soul
because there was no hesitation or doubt.

Every reverie
once suspended in the clouds
like a bird flying in the sky
that always ends up in the ground.

We bring to the earth
ideas from a place so profound
that the very act of thought
transcends all logic and sound.

– Valerie Parente (1-11-2026)

The Damsel & The Demon OUT NOW

August 24, 2025August 24, 2025Leave a comment

The Damsel & The Demon by Valerie Parente

BUY HERE

The Damsel & The Demon is a poetry/fantasy story hybrid (verse novel) meant to be an allegory for the healing process, whether that be healing from addiction, a toxic relationship, a traumatic event, or anything in between. Valerie drew inspiration from her personal struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder and anorexia to create this Allegory for Healing through the lens of the main character, Daphne. For both Daphne and Valerie, fleeting feelings can only exist as fixations, and the rhythmic stanzas of an internal dialogue, playing like poetry, is the conduit between the mentally disordered author and the hexed protagonist of this story. There is so much beauty in healing, but healing is still ever so messy, uncovering darkness where we expected light and vice versa. Determined to create this massive poem with no help from search engines or AI, Valerie made it her mission to come up with every rhyme on her own; turning to the internet for help was forbidden. As a result, The Damsel & The Demon is an authentic fantastical dark fairytale scripture rich with revelations and an aim to help readers everywhere see themselves in the damsel archetype as well as the ailment they struggle to separate from in the demon.

Valerie Parente is a writer and artist from Massachusetts whose bodies of work often explore the theme, “Finding beauty in darkness” and general mental health awareness.

Goddess

September 28, 2024September 28, 2024Leave a comment

Goddess by Valerie Parente

We call it the will of God
though women bear that cross
for it is them who represent
the concept of consequence
and if the world was honest
we’d say it came from a Goddess.
Therein lies, a tale as old as time;
how it is man who crucifies
the ones who wholeheartedly know
the magnificent power that they hold.

– Valerie Parente (9-28-2024)

Succubus

October 6, 2023March 1, 2024Leave a comment

Succubus by Valerie Parente

Milky eyes rolled
in the back of her head
they accuse the succubus
of stealing dreams from the men.

She’s only as good
as when they want to be around her
as if her morality
is tied to their arousal.

He can touch her
but she can’t touch him
just like she can lose her value
but he can only win.

Her pleasure, her lust,
a malevolence in itself
while he’s in high heaven
she’s going straight to hell.

They call her a succubus
because she likes to be exposed
that’s why they justify
putting a knife to her throat.

But they don’t know
she’ll stroke the knife with her tongue
because she taught herself
to like the taste of blood.

The Pictures I Paint

May 3, 2021June 24, 2021Leave a comment

The Pictures I Paint by Valerie Parente

The hurt painted a different picture
and that is okay.
I can work on a new canvas
without changing yesterday.
Nothing is mutually exclusive
when it comes to heartache.
There’s an art to this heart
and everything that I say.
You can be my one and only
despite the past pain.
I forgive and I give
and continue to paint.
Another picture, this time with hope
but this one will be framed.

– Valerie Parente (4-23-2021)

Provocateur

August 22, 2020Leave a comment

Provocateur by Valerie Parente

The more they say I can’t paint that way
the more I’m going to become a public display
because the controversial thrives in me
and I make pictures from a world of make-believe.
If you say this body of art needs to stop
then congratulations, you just elongated that prompt.

I can take a thought from my own head
and plant it inside yours using the magic of words.
If this world tries to censor my sensitivities
then a storm of more expression is about to empty me.

– Valerie Parente (8-22-2020)

Grand Scheme

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019Leave a comment

Grand Scheme by Valerie Parente

"Cosmic Consciousness" by Valerie Parente

I always felt like my mind was too big to fit inside me
that any attempt at fully articulating my thoughts would surely be a masterpiece
because the universe is always trying to whisper her poetry
and if I can capture just one conscious stream
then all the world’s pain would be worth it in the grand scheme.

– Valerie Parente (12-3-2019)

Rollercoaster

June 29, 2019June 29, 2019

Rollercoaster by Valerie Parente

I’m starting to hope that this ride ends soon
because I’m so sick of trying to make sense of you

I’ll admit I liked the high, but I sure do miss the ground
at first it was a thrill, but I think I might throw up now

Yes you showed me a good time but I want so many more
I think that’s why I held on so tight to this rollercoaster

It’s getting pretty late and we probably should go home
I wish you’d come along but I won’t be surprised if you don’t.

Tycoon

– Valerie Parente (6-29-2019)

The Power of Portraits

March 9, 2018April 4, 2019Leave a comment

“Heather Baron-Gracie – Pale Waves” by Valerie Parente

“Lady Gaga – Pop Star” by Valerie Parente

“Maria Brink – I Am The Dirt You Created” by Valerie Parente

“Charlotte Wessels – I’ll Reach You”

“Maria Brink – Sex Metal Barbie” by Valerie Parente

“Lisa Origliasso” by Valerie Parente

“Kerli – Pop Girl” by Valerie Parente

“Skye Sweetnam – SEVER” by Valerie Parente

I love the art of the portrait. Through painting and sketching my favorite artists, typically in the music industry, I catch a glimpse of peace.

When I am feeling inspired I find that creating art through personal ideas is exciting and even euphoric, but when my mind is clouded and I cannot generate original images in my head I turn to portraits. I’ve found, having more than one mental disorder obstacle in my life, that there is usually a time and place to face the idiosyncratic demons that dwell in my psyche. Depression, for one, can catalyze breathtaking art when the moment is right, but confronting depression through art is inopportune when I do not have the energy or mental capacity to face the darkness within. Times like this are sublime for shifting my aesthetic towards portrait painting and drawing. The power of portraits, at least from my experience, comes from the fact that I do not have to do much thinking. It’s very instinctual and intuitive. For this reason I am able to feel a sort of harmony with the plane that my consciousness permeates.

Getting lost in the use of your hand as you mindlessly translate a photograph on a screen into a portrait on a canvas is the type of therapeutic my redundant brain craves. There is something deeply meditative about studying an image of another human being, whom you admire and connect with on an artistic level, and merging their meaningful archetype in your mind with your own language of brush strokes or pencil markings. Portrait-making sends me in a zone of consciousness so powerful that I genuinely do not feel the weight of time. My perception is blissfully numb to the minutes, hours, even days that pass by while I lose my ego in acrylic shapes. The pain of depression or the edge of anxiety is muted. It still inhabits my subconscious, but the radio that is my brain doesn’t transmit these signals. All I can perceive is this timeless unity of a beloved image and my instinctive hands replicating the image with my own signature touches.