Tag: Poetry

I Feel The Earth

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I Feel The Earth by Valerie Parente

I feel the earth,
under my toes,
it’s one of the only things,
that doesn’t feel gross.

The soil, the dirt, and me,
we are nature all the same,
I am one with the earth,
no such thing can contaminate.

I’ve always been in touch,
I just had to put it to paper,
material from the earth,
expressed back to the maker.

Don’t cry for me and my hang-ups,
every person has their own fight,
mine in particular was obsessive,
but I always felt the earth on my side.

– Valerie Parente (5-22-2021)

Erudite

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Erudite by Valerie Parente

I went to hell and back,
studying my mental turmoil,
started as a kid with a task,
to get attention from the whole world.

When you’re a confused teen,
you feel so damn invisible,
then one special boy sees,
that’s when life got difficult.

I was always obsessive in nature,
and my imagination was a priority,
a perfectionist that was insecure,
so I excessively daydreamed.

I had talent back then,
but I didn’t use it for good,
I delved in sickness instead,
when one boy no longer looked.

Ten years gone, ten years dismissing,
that’s what the anorexia did,
ten years studying, ten years witnessing,
all the trauma adolescence inflicted.

It was circumstantial and biochemical,
and now I finally understand,
if there was any hope for normal,
I sure as hell didn’t stand a chance.

Now I’m a young woman with a pen,
and I’ve examined my psyche well,
as an expert on where I’ve been,
I make art in the name of mental health.

Believe it or not,
I wouldn’t change any single thing,
all the anguish I fought,
it helped me see another dimension.

There’s compassion in the stories I write,
there’s understanding behind each phrase,
there’s a past that helps me empathize,
there’s a purpose that will never go away.

I no longer think in terms of “me”,
I see your conscience and its fight,
my every move doesn’t need to be seen,
but I’ll shed light if it helps your life.

This is our world to better,
we are the children of the moon,
using psychology we study together,
out of the lunacy we’ve been through.

I’m going to nurture someone, someday,
in a cycle I finally want to be part of,
and that sentient bundle can embrace,
a worldview where mental health is honored.

– Valerie Parente (5-22-2021)

Blue to Green

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Blue to Green by Valerie Parente

From blue to green,
a pool of tears
feed the tree
just like the pain
that lived in me,
the key to life
in my bloodstream,
the blood on my skin,
always life’s key,
lying in the grass
not lost at sea,
you hurt then you learn,
a gradient to green.

Now green, from blue,
once so sad
but then I grew
because heartache
changes you
in the color
of a bruise
and I can’t heal
without the proof
so writing it out
was how I moved
across the spectrum
now green, from blue.

– Valerie Parente (5-21-2021)

In The Jungle

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In The Jungle by Valerie Parente

This is a jungle,
so new to me,
the rain doesn’t dry,
and I like the heat,
so don’t you dare,
try to mock me,
’cause I was spared,
from the lush green,
when all I wanted,
was to feel complete,
under the shade,
of nature’s canopy,
amongst the light,
between the trees,
in the jungle,
where we all came from,
in the jungle,
and I’ve just begun.

– Valerie Parente (5-18-2021)

Foliage

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Foliage by Valerie Parente

This safe haven,
where you can smell the foliage,
leaflets with an amber bruise,
the fresh green Godsend.

These leaves that fall,
they came and they went,
seasons of distress and joy,
while you try to comprehend.

There is pain in bare trees,
skeletal and sharply bent,
you wait, you hibernate,
every year it feels like the end.

You think your pain is gone,
when you are dead,
but it’s the “you” that’s gone,
as your identity transcends.

– Valerie Parente (5-17-2021)

Penmanship

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Penmanship by Valerie Parente

Your penmanship
is so personal
and I’ve been reading
with a purpose.
Now he’s writing
on the surface
with sweet words
in messy cursive,
a little overwhelming
but so damn worth it
and I don’t mind
being nervous
because anxiety
with my favorite person
sits on a page
so imperfectly perfect.

– Valerie Parente (5-12-2021)

With The Tide

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With The Tide by Valerie Parente

I decided a long time ago,
that I was going to be alright,
when that first disappointment hit,
I looked my reflection in the eyes,
said, “I will never get over this,
but I will certainly survive.”
Sunny days always came,
the sadness ebbs with the tide.
I remember my teenage self,
and I refuse to waste her time.
I’m a product of those days,
as they were a product of my mind.

You don’t need to forget
for your pain to subside,
you just need to accept
that this is your timeline.

– Valerie Parente (5-10-2021)

Seraphic Daydreams

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Seraphic Daydreams by Valerie Parente

Hope has always been so much bigger than the pain and the recovery,
Seraphic daydreams have always been the predominant part of me,
An ideal reality I blew into the air, as natural as the wind,
but I worried about the intrusive thoughts that persist,
and the truth is, you can think all you want,
but it’s belief in the heart…
that is the real charge.
I do not fear my demonic OCD fixations anymore,
because I know they don’t represent my angelic core.

– Valerie Parente (5-10-2021)

Poisoned Apple

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Poisoned Apple by Valerie Parente

There was a curse upon that orchard,
stemming from each apple seed,
and when the cold came around,
an apple fell from the apple tree,
sour and rotting from the inside
when it was supposed to be sweet,
poisoned from its very core,
just like a mental disease,
they told me to give it to a man,
since they often cause the grief,
but I knew if I poisoned a man,
it was the same as poisoning me,
and on the rainiest of rainy days,
I let that apple decay in the leaves,
because hurting those who hurt you,
is an excuse for the weak,
and the earth responded so kind,
to a woman’s forgiveness and mercy,
the ground swallowed that apple,
then it swallowed another three,
and as each fruit fell to the soil,
it was healed from its malady,
altogether the orchard ripened,
and it was as good as freed,
cured by a change of thought,
that’s how we reach true equality.

– Valerie Parente (5-8-2021)