Huntress

October 20, 2023October 20, 2023Leave a comment

Huntress by Valerie Parente

Huntress of the wilderness
with forearms a green pigment
and wouldn’t you believe
this huntress plays the victim
blaming the world
then unleashing her minions
razor toothed nymphs
so ravenous, so unforgiving
as if it were them who was scorned
because they know no division
between themselves and the huntress
and how she uses them for a mission
to get back at the wildlife
that threatens her position
upon a kingdom of bones
where she makes a killing.
The most vicious predator
but she is the one imprisoned
by her insatiable ego
and a never-ending vision
to be at the top of the food chain
but the top is lonely, isn’t it?

– Valerie Parente (10-14-2023)

Succubus

October 6, 2023March 1, 2024Leave a comment

Succubus by Valerie Parente

Milky eyes rolled
in the back of her head
they accuse the succubus
of stealing dreams from the men.

She’s only as good
as when they want to be around her
as if her morality
is tied to their arousal.

He can touch her
but she can’t touch him
just like she can lose her value
but he can only win.

Her pleasure, her lust,
a malevolence in itself
while he’s in high heaven
she’s going straight to hell.

They call her a succubus
because she likes to be exposed
that’s why they justify
putting a knife to her throat.

But they don’t know
she’ll stroke the knife with her tongue
because she taught herself
to like the taste of blood.

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)

Antithetical Thesis

September 22, 2023September 22, 2023Leave a comment

Antithetical Thesis by Valerie Parente

I have this freedom
a freedom to express
but I am afraid
of my own success
and what it means
to let my laurels rest
because if you like what you see
then I can reap the benefits
but who wants to be a reaper
other than the lord of death?
I don’t want to kill my spark
I want the ever glowing brightness
but I’ve always been in love
with finding beauty in darkness.
It’s all so confusing
the antithetical thesis
the dissonance of my hopes
mixed with poetic justice
because I want to be free
and I want to be complex
but out there on a stage
you might see that I’m less.
I have to put myself out there
if I want to impress
but I crumble from criticism
because I’m such a pathetic narcissist.
I don’t really want the fame
I want the respect
because fame is the curse
that you get when you’re blessed.

– Valerie Parente (9-22-2023)

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)

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)

Ship In A Bottle

August 23, 2023August 24, 2023Leave a comment

Ship In A Bottle by Valerie Parente

I was meant to go places
but I was too afraid
so I hid in a bottle
and became a display.
Trying to preserve myself
might have been a mistake
because now I crave touch
but I’m perfectly encased.
Now I’ve come to realize
as I get older with age
I wasn’t fragile to begin with
I made myself this way
piecing myself together
in a teeny tiny space.
I limited my horizon
when I had potential for waves
but I know better now
this glass, I can break
and when the shards fall
I won’t be bound to one place.

– Valerie Parente (7-20-2023)

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)