Credence by Valerie Parente
What matters to you
when nobody else matters?
What do you believe in
when nobody believes in anything?
When someone tells you
there are no such things as deities
why do you feel inclined
to speak to a higher being?
– Valerie Parente (3-28-2021)
Pencil by Valerie Parente
It’s been a long time
since I’ve written in pencil,
able to erase
whatever I’m meant to,
lead on the page
like I’m living proof,
modifying the pain
as we start out new.
– Valerie Parente (3-26-2021)
Bonus by Valerie Parente
You are not my goal,
but you are a bonus.
I learned to live without,
so now I can live with.
– Valerie Parente (3-25-2021)
I’m Okay by Valerie Parente
When you say you’re sorry
I don’t say “it’s okay”
because it wasn’t okay;
I say “I’m okay”
because that is true today.
– Valerie Parente (3-22-2021)
The Ebony Library by Valerie Parente
Welcome to the Ebony Library
where the words you choose to say
are never reduced to ash,
where the voice you choose to use
spits fire like facts.
We don’t burn books here
nor do we back-track,
we recall how bad it felt
to prevent any more bad.
Here history stays untouched
while the past is the past,
we will remember how much it hurt
and we will never go back.
– Valerie Parente (3-21-2021)
Mental Growth by Valerie Parente
How many times
have we heard that saying
“you need to go through pain to grow”?
How many times
did we try to cheat the system
when all we really did was postpone?
Well I always knew I would break
I just kept putting off the date
now I’ve had a year to mature
and the growth is ten times more
but the one thing I need to try
is never to celebrate being right
because the moment I place value on being correct
I’d undermine my newfound self-respect.
I didn’t heal thinking I was right about everything
I healed when I accepted being right didn’t mean a thing.
– Valerie Parente (3-19-2021)
Silver Chains by Valerie Parente
This silver-lining
made out of silver chains
I feel so lovely
but a little afraid.
Just like the moon
with a silver face
I feel the light
through the night’s haze.
For so long
I’ve been constrained
“Don’t feel too much”
now it’s okay.
My silver tongue
makes a new phrase
as my poetry
feels the change.
This silver-lining
made out of silver chains
like a pretty puppet
of the moon’s phase.
Don’t get me wrong
this is not a complaint
it’s my favorite problem
I’ve ever faced.
– Valerie Parente (3-18-2021)
Masquerade by Valerie Parente
She tried to be a mystery
but no one cared.
She tried to be a hero
to her own despair.
She tried to be a celebrity
but the views weren’t there.
When she gave up the masquerade
you could finally see her eyes
and the windows of her soul
were one of a kind.
– Valerie Parente (3-17-2021)
Heart On Your Sleeve by Valerie Parente
It’s your choice
if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve
but don’t be surprised
when people see it bleed.
And I’m so sorry
if I traumatized you when I was in pain
but I can’t hide my feelings
without going insane.
I’m making that choice
to once again wear my heart on my sleeve
so don’t be afraid
when you see the heartbeat.
– Valerie Parente (3-16-2021)
Strength Today by Valerie Parente
It killed me back then
but I’m so alive now
I didn’t carry myself up
to burrow back in the ground.
You say I’m going easy
but I think I’m going strong
because I’ve taken what I’ve learned
and moved myself along.
I didn’t know I’d be validated
back when I found my strength
and that’s why I can handle
whatever comes today.
I don’t see the point
in making someone sad about the past
when they express an understanding
of the things that have passed.
Why would I want
to ignore the happiness I feel today
and spoil the present
in the name of former heartache?
My heartache doesn’t own me,
I am owned by my strength,
and my strength is telling me
it’s okay to celebrate.
That’s the thing about happiness,
it’s kind of like pain,
you have to choose to let it in,
and that’s a choice I’m willing to make.
– Valerie Parente (3-16-2021)
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