Mermaid Hair & A Little Black Dress

May 11, 2025May 14, 2025Leave a comment

Mermaid Hair & A Little Black Dress
by Valerie Parente

Mermaid hair and a little black dress
one for my inner child
one for her last breath.

Because I wasn’t ready
to grow up just yet
so when I felt wronged
I found poetic justice.

They said “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
and I said “a girl with mermaid hair”
for all the times as a kid
that I was too scared
of the fateful hour glass
and its ground of sand
so I stuck my head in the clouds
not all quite there
regressing and digressing
into my own fairy tale.

They said “dress as the impression you want to give”
so I wore a little black dress
’cause black goes with everything
and I’m an artist
breaking down reality
so it all makes sense
to little kid me
and the woman she respects
so that one fateful day
the heart in my chest
will end its marathon
with little to no regrets.

– Valerie Parente (5-11-2025)

Dreamcatcher

January 4, 2025March 29, 2025Leave a comment

Dreamcatcher by Valerie Parente

To catch a dream
you must live with the thought
as if your dream
is already caught.

All you found in your sleep
cannot be lost
just write it down
to manifest the plot.

You’ve seen if before
you will see it again
this time, awake
the way you imagined.

Your dreams are manifestations of your mind.
Your mind is a manifestation of the universe.
Your universe is a manifestation of your dreams.
Creation never ends, it only morphs.

– Valerie Parente (1-4-2025)

The Skeleton Key

February 16, 2024February 18, 2024Leave a comment

The Skeleton Key by Valerie Parente

The skeleton key
scares many men
afraid it will open
a sinister realm.

But the truth of a key
is in its protection
able to lock out
anything coming in.

Maybe the skeleton key
makes us so unrelaxed
because it proves there is more in common
between the trespasser and the trespassed.

– Valerie Parente (2-16-2024)

WOMAN

October 4, 2023October 4, 2023Leave a comment

WOMAN by Valerie Parente

What is it about the female body
that makes you squirm
and throw a censor
over what should be the norm?
Because we’ve been taught to hide
veil
block
deny
then they wonder why
we harbor shame inside.

There is nothing inherently wrong
with simply existing
but to exist in the physical form
we must ask for permission.
Our body has the power
to wreak havoc on earth
and they made us believe
that is a curse
but it’s actually a gift
that in doing nothing we cause a stir
it is actually a gift
to be a WOMAN in this world.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2023)

Sunlight Chapel (A Fantasy Chronicle)

September 15, 2023Leave a comment

The Sunlight Chapel (A Fantasy Chronicle)

The sunlight chapel
was filled with treasures
that mankind cannot
begin to measure.
You will see Sol priestesses
when you enter,
and you will be greeted
by floating embers
suspended between breaths
of the chapel’s dwellers
wearing golden dresses
and crowns of amber feathers.
These priestesses will teach you
for they’re oh so clever
harnessing wisdom from light
they’re energy is tethered
to the mighty sun
no matter the weather.

The world is full of pain
and the night will always test
the darkness of the sky
like a hole inside your chest
but the Sol priestesses know
this wisdom above the rest,
At the end of the day
you can go to bed a mess
but come the morning light
your mindset must reset.
Every morning the sun rises
is a morning you are blessed.
Every morning arrises
and you are its witness;
the sunlight lives in you
and don’t you dare forget.

– Valerie Parente (9-15-2023)

she is the tree whisperer (A Fantasy Chronicle)

September 8, 2023October 4, 2023Leave a comment

she is the tree whisperer by Valerie Parente

Little baby girl
found at the bottom of a tree
nestled in the moss
along the tree’s anatomy
but she was not alone
in her perfectly sound sleep;
for the lullabies of the tree spirits
kept her warmth and company.

Found by three druids
but raised by two
they named her Sylvianna
under the wake of the moon,
offered her a home in the village
but she kindly refused
because there with the tree spirits
she felt connected to her roots.

Sylvianna grew to know the forest
like the back of her hand
from the tip of her toes
to her antennas of branch
receiving the whispers
from the lay of the land
learning about lifetimes
far beyond man.

With nails like claws
Sylvianna climbed to her kingdom
a network of treehouses
where she learned from the brilliant.
For there is a reason that trees
are known for their wisdom
because they’ve heard it all
throughout the ecosystem.

She is the tree whisperer
and she is one with the Nightingale forest
protecting the very territory
that granted her solace.
She had the option to leave
nature’s cruelty and harshness
but she whispered to herself,
“I’d much rather be haunted.”

Bitch!

September 4, 2023September 4, 2023Leave a comment

Bitch! by Valerie Parente

She says “I’m not your bitch”
but he sure was possessive,
eager to identify her
through his own perspective.
When that woman was assertive
she got called aggressive
when she used her brain
she was oh so deceptive
when she remembered his betrayal
she was so damn obsessive.

But you don’t fool me
though I’ll admit, it’s impressive
how you’ve villainized the female
in the conscious collective.
Since the beginning of time
the men in charge were defensive
talking down to “little girls”
but we knew the real message
they didn’t want an even playing field
they wanted outright oppression.

No I’m not your bitch
but I’ve learned my lesson
go ahead and call me one
7 days out of 7
I’ll carry the weight you gave the word
when you were busy deflecting;
now who’s the stronger sex
in this pointless competition
the one calling names
or the one making the impression?

– Valerie Parente (9-4-2023)

grief is the proof that love connects the living to the dead

August 14, 2023August 14, 2023Leave a comment

grief is the proof that love connects the living to the dead
by Valerie Parente

We live in 3 dimensions
but we die into more.
It feels like loved ones “have been”
but my dear, they still occur.
You have been trained to feel saddened
because you can’t see them anymore
but that’s the living’s misconception,
the dead are still here, in a different form.
We struggled for a definition
so we came up with a new word,
called it “grief”, but it’s really “connection”
to a state beyond this world.

– Valerie Parente (8-4-2023)

the illness that wants me all to itself

August 20, 2022Leave a comment

the illness that wants me all to itself by Valerie Parente

There are voices in my head
that do not belong to me
and when you ask how I feel
I can feel them speak.
There is a pattern in the language
so ripe with irony,
“To be sick is strong,
to be healthy is weak.
The pain finds a cure
when you cut skin deep.
To be sober is trapped,
to be drunk is free.
When you avoid your fears
their power depletes.”
It’s as if by design,
this backwards philosophy,
and I have to share a home
with the voices on repeat.
But I am no lost cause,
I can still find my speech
and maybe that’s why
I can write it so easily.
This illness wants me all to itself
but it will never have entirety
because as long as I have a pen
I can differentiate between
a voice in my head
and the words that compete.