A New Day by Valerie Parente
When the bare minimum wasn’t addressed
we wound up with a grand mess
but now that hope has persevered
we can finally begin to heal.
– Valerie Parente (1-20-2021)
Tag: poem
A Little Sympathy Would Be Nice
A Little Sympathy Would Be Nice by Valerie Parente
I think a lot about my past
but that doesn’t mean I want it back.
My brain was wrongly designed
to dwell on former times,
getting caught on the same loops
and I know that gets you confused.
I don’t want the same things,
but that’s what my conscience brings.
If you find that weird
then imagine how I feel.
OCD is like a chronic bad habit,
a royal jester playing old tricks
and when its trying to fool you
just know it tried to fool me too.
– Valerie Parente (1-18-2021)
Art Without Fame
Art Without Fame by Valerie Parente
Artistic displays without God-like fame gets you weird looks.
Promiscuous fashion without hollow passion gets you unsold books.
Poetic mindsets without a publisher’s subtext gets you ridiculed.
Free expression without others’ discretion gets you verbal abuse.
Because it’s okay to feel hurt
as long as you have a following
and it’s okay to create stories
as long as you’re not being honest
but the moment you draw from your real life
without the public’s hype
that’s when they call you the bad guy;
Because art without fame is just the diary of a lunatic.
Love without a mate gets you deemed the psycho chick.
And this is not a complaint, just a reminder that I’m aware of it.
So bid me your hate, I’m already immune to it.
I’ve learned to accept that when you merge intellect with fishnets
as a way to project an explicit mindset and mental health awareness
you’ll get teased by the rest but I’m okay with that test
because I’ve overcome too much stress against the odds of my illness
to still give a fraction of a shit.
– Valerie Parente (1-12-2021)
The Girl In The Mirror
The Girl In The Mirror by Valerie Parente
I killed the girl in the mirror
when I was a 14 years old student
and every day I resent myself
even though I didn’t know what I was doing.
That girl in the mirror had it bad
and that wasn’t so peculiar.
Nobody that age knew how to act
but I still held it against her.
I make decisions now
with the mirror girl on my mind.
I’m trying to make her proud
because I owe her my adult life.
– Valerie Parente (1-4-2021)
Mechanical
Mechanical by Valerie Parente
Everything I am is mechanical
Actions and reactions
To and fro
The way I’m drawn
To the old
These circuits in my mind
Predisposed
To compensate for years
I missed the most.
– Valerie Parente (1-4-2021)
Happy Again
Happy Again
by Valerie Parente
I would like to be happy like we were before
back when it was easier
because it’s been the end of the world
for one long year that felt like more.
I think we all lost
the innocence we once wore
back when we didn’t have to hide out of sight
and I think we all forgot
what we used to fight for
back when we didn’t have to fight for our life.
I don’t know if we were happier before
but it sure was easier
back when we didn’t know better
and our bad times didn’t feel like forever.
When your life was narrowed down,
what did you sacrifice?
When you had to rethink your path,
what became your priority?
When you thought it was the end of the world,
who did you think of?
No we won’t be happy like we were before
but we’ll sure feel its worth
and when we smile again
despite all our stress
we’ll all feel a truer form of happiness.
– Valerie Parente (12-31-2020)
An Artist’s Prerogative
An Artist’s Prerogative by Valerie Parente
If I’m prude
in today’s mood
then that can creep
in my pen’s muse.
But it’s also my prerogative
if I want to be provocative
and I shouldn’t have to explain
just the same.
Call it vanity,
call it obscene,
call it everything you want it to be,
because you say what should be forbidden fruit
based on the very impulses you don’t give in to
and an artist does not need to coincide
with the expressions you try to hide
and I’ll be damned if I start
to censor myself in my art.
Call it explicit,
call it raw,
call it everything I foresaw.
I tried to come up with a million reasons,
an answer to every single grievance
but I realized
in my confines
that I shouldn’t have to justify
how I display what’s on my mind.
It’s my job to evoke a feeling,
that part of you begging for healing,
and if uneasiness comes into play
then those qualms were never meant to stay.
We elicit what we need
to evolve into a higher breed
and artistic expression is that key
making censorship its enemy.
– Valerie Parente (12-27-2020)
Material Girl
Material Girl by Valerie Parente
I like to surround myself with things I find beautiful
because if I don’t create my own sanctuary
then who will?
– Valerie Parente (12-23-2020)
It’s Complicated (At Least That’s What I Want You To Think)
It’s Complicated
(At Least That’s What I Want You To Think)
by Valerie Parente
You resist, you resist
then when they agree
you feel dismissed
because you want what you can’t have
and you can’t let yourself have what you attract.
So close, but never enough
to break your fear of their touch.
Call it prude, call it in control,
but you’re just trapped in a role.
Perpetually tricking your inner voice
into believing isolation is a choice.
Depriving yourself from the ones
that understand where you come from
because what could be more commendable
than being the only one to understand yourself.
It’s a sick little charade
so fitting for your sick little brain,
where the very thing you want most
is the very thing that would destroy your ego.
And it’s funny in the end
because you want people to believe you’re complex
but you’ve already proven through your twisted issues
that something so complicated lives within you.
– Valerie Parente (12-20-2020)
All I Wanted Was You
All I Wanted Was You by Valerie Parente
Why do people say,
“All I wanted was you”
as if that
was the least you could do.
Now I don’t know about you
but where I come from
that is the most
you can give someone.
– Valerie Parente (12-14-2020)
