
My Mantra by Valerie Parente
You can go to bed a mess
as long as you wake up feeling blessed.
– Valerie Parente (6-10-2020)

My Mantra by Valerie Parente
You can go to bed a mess
as long as you wake up feeling blessed.
– Valerie Parente (6-10-2020)
Why? by Valerie Parente
I’m really not trying to live in the past tense
but why after all the ways you made my mind bend
do I still want to protect you from the consequence
of how you destroyed me with your actions?
I’m really not trying to cause any hurt
you might even ask “why would she print these words?”
and it’s because I’ll never be able to move forward
until I put these feelings on the record.

– Valerie Parente (6-9-2020)
I Was Enough by Valerie Parente
Sometimes I wish I was enough
but then I remember
I was enough to freak you out
I was enough to take your time
I was enough to get under your skin
I was enough to move your mind
I was enough to cause concern
I was enough to pick a fight
I was enough to hurt your feelings
and I was enough for you to apologize
over the course of years and years that went by.
I don’t wish I was enough any more
because I recognize this back-and-forth
I was way too much at the end of the day
and I know that’s why I couldn’t stay.
– Valerie Parente (6-8-2020)
Love. Heartache. Death.
What makes us human hurts;
that is the gift of the universe.

Poetry & Prose Collection
Volume 2
Coming soon…
Bruised by Valerie Parente
After months inside my mind
when I finally decided to cry
it wasn’t because I hate this life
it was because I love this life
but I just can’t seem to do it right.
I keep falling for someone wrong
someone safe that leads me along
but when it comes time to choose
I’m just the girl who got confused
and I can’t think of anything more cruel
than making my mental illness the excuse
and in the same breath using it as an ego boost
and I’m so Goddamn sick of being used.
I don’t know how I’m ever going to trust again
because you were my best friend
and the worst part is that in the end
I look like the bad guy for having feelings
because whenever I care it’s an inconvenience
whenever I care it brings out demons
and it must be the sick part of me that’s still hellbent
on protecting you from the emotional consequence.

– Valerie Parente (6-2-2020)

“Soul Purpose” by Valerie Parente
Art is Magic by Valerie Parente
“Why do I create the greatest art
when I’m in the greatest pain?”
“Because the artist is a magician
taking something as ugly as heartache
and turning it into something beautiful.
That is the true power in you.”
– Valerie Parente (5-31-2020)
Good Times by Valerie Parente
I held on through so many fights
because of all the good times
some of the best moments of my life
but now I’ve begun to realize
you can’t continue with those highs
if the other person doesn’t recognize
the value you have in each others’ lives.
– Valerie Parente (5-30-2020)
I Can’t Do The Math by Valerie Parente
I’m not good at the logical stuff
and I’m kind of sick of things not adding up.
Because all the things that should make sense
wind up harder and harder to comprehend.
It’s starting to feel like forever
I’ve been putting piece and piece together
but I can’t do the math at hand
when I’m the only one trying to understand.
– Valerie Parente (5-29-2020)
For Once by Valerie Parente
For once
I just want to be somebody’s emotional outlet without being taken for granted.
I just want to be able to eat again without wanting to vomit.
I just want to be able to listen music again without thinking of the time I spent.
I just want to be able to be my true self without feeling completely broken.
I just want to know that I did the right thing by saying what needed to be said.
I just want to be out of this pain but I have no idea what comes next
because I don’t know what to do without my very best friend.
– Valerie Parente (5-24-2020)
No Appetite by Valerie Parente
Having an appetite is a luxury.
When you don’t have an appetite life is hell
because you have to eat
because you feel your body getting weak
you have to put fuel inside
but the pure disgust makes every morsel feel like torture
and to go through day after day just trying to figure out how much you can intake
when just the thought of food makes you want to purge
is truly a kind of hell that nobody deserves.
– Valerie Parente (5-22-2020)