Tag: Philosophy

The Creator’s Paradox

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The Creator’s Paradox by Valerie Parente

What am I
if not God’s art?
God creates perfection
but you say that I’m wrong
and in the same virtuous breath
that I was made in His image all along.
How can the thing that created everything
be a pillar of perfection but create a world of flaws?

Every abomination
was someone’s creation
can we say the creator is sick
but not their rules and their laws
either I am a masterpiece, so idealistic
or I was a mistake never meant to spawn
but the one thing I know for sure is that I exist
so it would be insanity to say that there is no God.

The creator must be an artist
because our existence is a paradox
the goal of art is not to appear perfect
the goal is to express a breath and a thought.

– Valerie Parente (11-11-2025)

The Singularity, The Soul

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The Singularity, The Soul by Valerie Parente

When the darkness comes for you
don’t fear being seduced
because the dark loves you, darling
and you are its muse too.

This black hole is enamored by you
a singularity that pulls you in
if it were simply nothing
you wouldn’t feel the attraction.

No, it’s not a void
or in what you lack
it’s a concentration
it’s a black mass.

You feel it in your chest
sucking your energy
past the event horizon
into a bank of memory.

This singularity, they say
compresses all of you infinitely
yet its volume does not exist
well that sounds like a soul, if you ask me.

Don’t you dare compare the black hole to depression
which is ambivalent and unfazed
it contains more emotion than you could imagine
the density of the soul and the darkness are one and the same.

– Valerie Parente (9-14-2025)

Voices

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Voices by Valerie Parente

Your mind was still your mind
when you were too young for words.
You were someone before you could define
anything in this world.
That’s how I know when your thoughts are unkind
it is something separate that creates the hurt.
You are the thing behind
the whispers that float forth.

You are not the voices in your head,
you are the choices you make
after hearing them.

– Valerie Parente (6-10-2025)

Observer Effect

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Observer Effect by Valerie Parente

I once had an incredibly vivid dream
that I was conducting an experiment, and I died
and I watched the wall I was looking at
lose a richness only living eyes could provide.

They say you can see the fluidness of life
vanish from a dead person’s eyes
but it actually goes both ways
my ghost saw the same wall, and it was dry.

The world is missing something too
when it is no longer witnessed by a life
I discovered that the simple act of observation
gave the inanimate a quality I can’t describe.

When I’m awake, you know they say
that all matter has its own vital signs
what might be breath in a living body
might be in a wavelength collapsed time.

It all sounds crazy outside of slumber
but my lucid slumber helped me recognize
that miracles like life extend our bodies
and what is on the outside is as divine as you and I.

– Valerie Parente (4-27-2025)

Incarnate

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Incarnate by Valerie Parente

If the soul is something invisible
then why do certain songs make my soul feel seen?
And if my consciousness is divisible
then why do centuries of stories have the same theme?
If I didn’t choose this body
then why do I pick my own brain?
If I didn’t choose this journey
then why did I incarnate?
If true essence is impossible to capture
then why can art mirror my mind?
If there is no such thing as life after
then why does lost love linger behind?

I don’t think anyone really knows
what we’re doing here
but if there was ever a clue
it wouldn’t be in what makes sense, but how we feel.

– Valerie Parente (4-6-2025)

Everything Is Magic

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Everything Is Magic by Valerie Parente

The wisemen say they don’t believe in magic.
They believe in reality.
But reality is magic.
You’ve just been conditioned not to see.

Symbols on a piece of parchment
can make you hear voices
see new worlds
weigh different choices.
They can prompt an epiphany
share cures or poisons
elicit joy or devastation
be one of the greatest forces.

Potions consumed from bottles
can perform a range of spells
course through your blood
send you to heaven or hell.
They can spark bravery
inhibitions, they can quell
they can make a shy man speak
become another version of himself.

Elixirs from the earth
are constantly feeding
giving energy to move
and keep your heart beating.
They fight off disease
they bind the bleeding
supercharged by a fireball
we call it sunlight gleaming.

Life creates life
from life, so it goes,
and in acts of love
we see another seed grow.
It’s all virtually impossible
but breath still flows
against all the odds
you exist, and you know.

The world is a magical place
the greatest fantasy we could ever witness
everything is extraordinary
the farthest thing from hopeless
you’ve just been taught
not to notice.

Heresy

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Heresy by Valerie Parente

Who am I
to declare what is
and isn’t
right?

And who are you
to decide which words are
and are not
taboo?

What is
an intrusive thought
if not
an act of God?

It all means nothing
until you assign it meaning
so wield your power
like it’s the only thing to believe in.

– Valerie Parente (11-18-2023)

In Love with a Nihilist

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In Love with a Nihilist by Valerie Parente

It says less about you
and more about me
that when you say you’re a nihilist
I start to think in poetry
using rhyme and reason
to find reasons in the grand scheme
and you might not see your meaning
but how could that be?
Because when I conceptualize it all
there’s one concept I believe
that you’re in this world on purpose
and you mean the world to me.

– Valerie Parente (9-1-2021)

That’s The Moon

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That’s The Moon by Valerie Parente

Look up high
at the night sky.
See that? That’s the moon
it’s not an excuse
it’s an explanation
to something complicated
something I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand
but when I break it down as a symbol I stand a chance
to make sense of the voice inside
this methodically mad mind.

Do you see that? That’s the moon
and it belongs to you too.

– Valerie Parente (6-16-2021)