Tag: Poetry

The Carnival is Back in Town

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The Carnival is Back in Town
by Valerie Parente

The carnival
is back in town
and it gives me a feeling
so profound
the way we build it up
just to tear it down
like our expectations
before we all found
that the promise of adulthood
wasn’t safe and sound
it’s a game of chance
to outgrow these clowns
but that ferris wheel
it still goes around
same crazy ride
with a different crowd
and year after year
on these fairgrounds
you remember when life was fair
but it’s not fair now.
There was an innocence
that childhood allowed
but if you listen carefully
you’ll still hear it loud
the sound of the carnival
when it’s back in town
a fleeting state
that cannot be bound.

– Valerie Parente (5-16-2026)

Stomach Lining

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Stomach Lining
by Valerie Parente

Oh the irony
that I destroyed my stomach lining
in an effort to be thin,
that I can’t properly digest
the world I want to take in.
I did it to myself
swallowing pills for bloating
but the stomach didn’t shrink
it became agonizing.
Meanwhile we live in a society
handing out prescriptions
to ruin the appetite of the ones
without mental conditions.
The same doctors that wagged their fingers
in my direction
are now encouraging disorders
à la injection.
And I’m sorry but I don’t have the stomach
to actively listen
to those once preaching body positivity
now with the opposite opinion.
It’s almost like it was never about health
just a superficial conviction.
It’s a sick world equating deprivation
with sweet discipline.
No, I don’t have the stomach
or the interior lining
to digest the bullshit
the elites are buying.
The mental fortitude it takes
to fight disordered eating
has never been more difficult
for those of us healing.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2026)

Accidental Invocations

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Accidental Invocations by Valerie Parente

I’m scared to let my hands touch each other
in case I have an intrusive thought,
because then God might mistake it for praying
for something that I don’t want.

When I lie down to sleep
I make sure I separate my hands
because what if I think bad things
and invoke my own nightmares?

I scramble to apologize
in case God is listening
but how can I rescind the lies
with the same voice that sins?

But then I remind myself
God’s language is genuine,
He need not know my words
because He knows my intentions.

If the universe had a voice
He would speak through energy
anxiety wouldn’t make a dent
to the creator of the grand scheme.

Fear no accidental invocations
from the obsessive compulsive thoughts,
God doesn’t reach us in the brain
He only reaches for the heart.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2026)

Many Women, Some Men

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Many Women, Some Men by Valerie Parente

Many women play dumb
as not to offend
because to anger some men
could mean her life’s end.

Many women go ghost
as not to piss off
fearing rejection
could mean her life stops.

Many women hold their keys
as a means to defend
between the knuckles
where her life depends.

Many women smile back
as a way to pretend
because if she disapproves
her life could be threatened.

Some men need an explicit signal
but when they receive that, they attack
then turn around and blame women
for putting on an act.

And the knee-jerk reaction
is to say “not all men”
but what do you call it when a small portion
affects every single woman?

– Valerie Parente (4-24-2026)

Cathedral

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Cathedral by Valerie Parente

She worships her body
like a cathedral
a sacred space
to shelter the ego.

A corset of ribbed vaults
to emphasize her curves;
if this is no man’s state
then separate it from her church.

You made her body
into something political
but she’s not a group project
she’s an individual.

She listens to her own belief system
not the sound of a man’s sermon
knowing there’s no such thing
as a whore or a virgin.

The religion of her decisions
only needs to make sense to her
one woman’s freedom
is not another man’s curse.

– Valerie Parente (4-7-2026)

Theist

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Theist by Valerie Parente

People ask, do you believe in God?
I ask, does God believe in us?
Then I remember, He lets us keep going
He lets us keep going even when we mess up
He lets us keep going
He lets us keep going, so he must.

– Valerie Parente (3-27-2026)


Wish Upon A Star…

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Wish Upon A Star… by Valerie Parente

When children wish upon a star
do you think their little brains know
that the star might have died
a long time ago?

The naivety of our past
influences our hopes today
yet that light still reaches us
even after that star goes away.

Somewhere down the line
that star turned to dust
but look at you now,
out of that dust you grew up.

So why shouldn’t we believe
a wish on a star can come true
when we ourselves are manifestations
of the fire they once bloomed.

Death is just a word
what was once life goes on
in the little ripples and effects
of a light so strong from beyond.

Those children had it right
to wish upon the stars.
Energy never dies
it just moves along.

– Valerie Parente (3-21-2026)


Ravenheart: Her Black Heart (A Fantasy Chronicle)

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Ravenheart: Her Black Heart by Valerie Parente

That woman had a ravenheart
so burnt and charred
buried in her chest
like a pounding scar.

She lived in the dwelling
dwelling on the pain
and when the prince came to save her
she hid deep in her cave.

She cried, “Don’t get too close to me
I have a black heart
you will never be safe
within my arms.”

He countered, “Your worry is warped
my dear, fear no death
your black heart is no curse
it’s the channel for your depth.

No surface absorbs light
as well as the color black
what you say you destroy
is what you attract.

Step out, into the world
you’d be surprised how wonderful it is
to interact with it all
and feel the sun on your skin.”

With black veins like branches
she revealed herself
and her black heart raced
at the sight of someone else.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2025)

Eve

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Eve by Valerie Parente

I am every woman
who came before me.
Every moment they sacrificed
carved out a space
for my dreams.

I am every moment
a woman is believed.
Every truth they told
lays the foundation
that sets me free.

I am the truth
flawed as it may be.
Every mistake a girl makes
we feel empathy
all the way back
to our first girl, Eve.

– Valerie Parente (3-13-2026)



Savor / Savior

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Savor / Savior by Valerie Parente

I asked God “how can I make the most of a moment?”
and he told me to savor
but taste has always made me feel guilty
like a sick girl who chews and spits it out for the flavor.
Now in my recovery and adulthood
I don’t condone that behavior
but I’d be lying if I withheld the facts of my past
bound to come out sooner or later
how I wasted away like I wasted time
and made my own breathing labored.
The truth is I’m still scared of consumption
without a cavern or a crater
but I no longer leave room intentionally
I’ve started to do myself that favor,
realizing gut feelings are there for a reason
and to mute them is to mute my maker.
So I saved myself from within by enjoying food again
to the memories the guardian angels catered.
Now I feel a presence in every present tense
with a belly that belongs to a savior.

– Valerie Parente (3-8-2026)