The Weight of Memories by Valerie Parente
Memories carry weight.
I always have a memory of you
and you always have a memory of me
but when one person passes
that weight is no longer split evenly
all of a sudden it’s all on you
to carry all the moments we perceived
and memories all to one person
is what we call grief.
It is painful, but take it as an honor
that your loved one imparted them to you
now you get to carry them with you
in everything you do.
– Valerie Parente (1-1-2025)
Stony Brook by Valerie Parente
Words about my self are so cold
because this conscious stream is frozen.
I’m making faces under the surface
in the name of what’s unspoken.
I questioned life on solid ground,
but I never stood a chance
at clinging to the rocks
that blistered my own hands.
Underneath the ice I laid on
was an isolation I schemed
where I was swept away by the current
as the current swept by me.
I still cross that stony brook
but I know better this time
holding my own breath
in a space so traumatized.
– Valerie Parente (5-26-2023)
A lot of your problems stem from the fact that you are tied to your ego. When you can’t let go of the past, it is your ego that is trying to maintain the story its been telling by reliving memories. When you set expectations it is your ego that is trying to establish itself on superficial ground. It is time to let go of the ego self and live life as the instrument of energy that you are in this universe, flowing with the present and accepting the healing nature that the present bestows upon you. You are made of light and love and you will be free when you shed the ego that has been veiling the real you.
– Valerie Parente (8-27-2018)
Idu Ego by Valerie Parente
I am attached to the past as a means of identity
Meanwhile I identify a germ as an attachment on me
A material representation of the past contaminating me
But if I can animate the past as a representation of me
Then why am I trying so hard to be clean?
– Valerie Parente (10-5-16)
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