Tag: poem

No Longer Playing With Fire

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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)

I Want To Coexist

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I Want To Coexist by Valerie Parente

Letting myself be happy
because of someone I love
is my most difficult struggle
because if I let someone bring me happiness
then what’s to stop them from taking it away?
And I don’t want to be a hostage
of someone else’s mind-frame.

I want to love again
but I don’t want to relearn
my life’s hardest lesson.
How do people do it?
How do people have relationships without surrendering their sanity?
I wish I could do it.
I wish I could do it and feel free.
And maybe my problem
is that I think in extremes,
but how am I supposed to love someone
outside of me
without making myself
their responsibility?

If I’m being perfectly honest,
I want to coexist.
I guess I just have to find that balance.

– Valerie Parente (3-11-2021)

Graffiti

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Graffiti by Valerie Parente

Like a graffiti artist
envisioning a new canvas
I saw the writing on the wall
and I was terrified me from the start.
Even though I love to paint my pain
I had never been more afraid
because I knew that space will never be pure again
I got something beautiful at a monumental expense.

– Valerie Parente (3-10-2021)

Through Hell (Is The Way Out)

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Through Hell (Is The Way Out) by Valerie Parente

The longer you feed that unhealthy mental state,
trying and trying to avoid the tallest flames,
that fire is only going to expand its space,
and engulf you into a larger blaze.

I had to go through a brutal kind of hell,
to address a prolonged flaw with my mental health,
a problem that put too much pressure on someone else,
and now I finally feel like the best version of myself.

– Valerie Parente (3-10-2021)

Please Keep Your Cynicism To Yourself

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Please Keep Your Cynicism To Yourself by Valerie Parente

Cynicism is a choice.
It is a choice to be void.
You are welcome to not believe in a higher being,
but don’t you dare shut down those who found it and its meaning;
people who have crawled out of the darkness of addiction and grief,
people who survived because they had something outside themself to believe.
If you look at these miracles and roll your eyes at the world,
and think “I’m way too smart to believe in something more”,
then your problem isn’t intelligence,
your problem is stone cold arrogance.
Just because you do not see the benefit of it,
does not mean the benefit does not exist.

Please, do the world a favor next time,
when you want to shame the people who survived,
treat the world like you treat the herbs you smoke,
take a deep breathe, then let it go.

– Valerie Parente (3-10-2021)

One Thing Is Certain… Seasons Change

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One Thing Is Certain… Seasons Change by Valerie Parente

Days are getting longer,
sunlight shining down,
the sound of burning rubber,
in this cute little town,
and I wouldn’t change a thing,
even if it kept you around.

Sitting on these bleachers,
so far below the clouds,
last year I sat here in torment,
wondering where, when, and how
I’d ever begin to forget the good times,
unaware remembering was allowed.

I mistook peace for apathy,
clinging on to a heavy frown,
thinking loneliness all alone,
was worse than loneliness in a crowd,
but I’ve found my peace of mind,
and in my lonesome it was found.

I’m happier today,
with my feet on the ground,
no more unfair expectations,
in a psyche so loud,
I proved I can survive,
a sadness so profound,
it didn’t make sense at the time,
but I can make sense of it now.

– Valerie Parente (3-9-2021)

Pixie Dust

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Pixie Dust by Valerie Parente

Little nymph with rainbow wings,
sprinkling pixie dust,
making the darkness sparkle,
with her magic touch.

Little fairy with sharp intuition,
seeing auras through glass eyes,
your energy is clear to her,
even when you try to hide.

Little creature of the forest,
with empathy like the stars,
she envisions how you feel,
dividing light in equal parts.

Their whimsical spirits exceed the days,
like totems passed down the human race,
so very minuscule in this time and place,
yet endless in the sentiments they convey.

– Valerie Parente (3-8-2021)

Abandoned Castle

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Abandoned Castle by Valerie Parente

She thought she had it all figured out
when she was young
dreaming of a big grand castle
glowing under the sun.
She thought she would live in a fairytale
when she grew up
dancing in a glorious castle
a place to fall in love.

The years piled on
the castle’s appeal faded.
Some say she grew up
some say she grew jaded.
Love is not as simple
as the moss that covers stone.
Dreams are not meaningful
until you fail, then you grow.
Now ivy on the walls
climbs up so very tall
and with dreams so big
she began to feel small.
That’s when the abandonment happened
and she realized fantasies can cause harm
often inflated by a toxic desire
so she decided to move on.

Tale be told, she abandoned her castle
but that is no more than folklore;
she didn’t abandon that castle
that castle abandoned her
and that turned out to be
the castle’s greatest favor
for when the fantasizing ceased
she began to enjoy the real world.

– Valerie Parente (3-7-2021)

Dress Up

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Dress Up by Valerie Parente

Kinda funny, when you dress up
that they get all hung up
because a woman can look like a woman
unless there are sums of men looking,
and if you dress like a doll
they’ll think it’s playtime when it’s not.
But last time I checked
I expect so much less
when a man looks like a man
I don’t assume he’ll hold my hand.
It’s condescending to the men
that we think less of them
like they can’t control their fantasies
when they see a woman so free
as if they don’t have the control
not to touch what’s not their own.
You can dress up, you can dress down
you can convey whatever you dream about
because it empowers every party
when you feel free with who you want to be.

– Valerie Parente (3-6-2021)

Not Bionic

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Not Bionic by Valerie Parente

You can be recovered
and still not feel okay
maybe for minutes
maybe for days
the key is accepting
that you operate
on the very mechanisms
that make you brave.
You are not bionic
you are not unfazed.
You are a child
of the moon’s display
and that will always mean
that sadness comes in waves
but so does happiness
it arrives all the same.
It is this temperament
that helps you create
it is your reactions
that leave room for grace.
When you have a memory
and it’s by mistake
you are allowed to feel
any type of way
because you are not bionic
you are not man-made
you are something natural
deep in outer space
you are endless and real
in mankind’s masquerade.

– Valerie Parente (3-4-2021)