Tag: political poem

Bloodshed

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Bloodshed by Valerie Parente

They say us women are the weak ones
even though every month we shed blood
created with a mechanism for self sacrifice
sometimes giving our own life to create more life.

Not every woman is allowed to do what she wants
some bleed and make life whether they like it or not
and these men only bleed when they decide
deciding to bleed as a means to end lives.

What’s with all these disenchanted young men
thinking the solution is to resort to bloodshed?
That to eliminate their own unpleasant feelings
they must cause some kind of chaos and bleeding.

Their bloodshed is perfectly preventable
a consequence to actions deemed inevitable
but it’s women’s bloodshed that was never a choice
yet our society makes a choice to teach it to boys.

Once a month every year all because of hormones
every week a violent news story because he feels alone
but make no mistake, it was never him vs. her
it’s what we decide to do with nature vs. nurture.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2025)

What A Pretty Hill To Die On

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What A Pretty Hill To Die On
by Valerie Parente

What a pretty hill that is
you chose to die on
climbed all that way
just to watch your town burn
took so much commitment
and sold your soul
using your last breaths
to cough up smoke.

Tell me, was the grass greener
on the other side?
Were you happier
being part of the lie?
Did you die as you lived,
succumbing to hate?
Did you use your influence
to fan the flames?

No that’s not a pretty hill
you chose as your cemetery
beneath the surface
you were once exemplary
but you used your good fortune
to cash into the institute
that never would have thought
to die for pretty little you.

– Valerie Parente (6-15-2025)

Echo Chamber

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Echo Chamber by Valerie Parente

Reverberate
between polar opposite walls
two sides polarized
same anger, different drawls.

Surround yourself
by the hard headed
it’s like a mirror
just noise with a reflection.

The ideas you bring into the world
have a way of profound growth
as long as there’s a hardened surface
they come back one hundred fold.

This chamber, you made
thinking if the space is formal
then you can enact real change
but alas, we talk ourselves in circles.

Now did you know if it happens quick enough
the human ear can never tell
the difference between original sound
and the echoes from someone else?

So talk slow, listen carefully,
go outside, don’t stay in one room,
or the walls of your echo chamber
will eventually close in on you.

– Valerie Parente (12-7-2024)