Features “Dissonant Demons”, “Self-Sufficient Psyche”,
and “Love Is Immortal”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Tag: Rather Be Haunted by Valerie Parente
Poetry Reading & Analysis (Grand Scheme ~ The Fear I Long For ~ Ghosts In My Room) (VIDEO)
Features “Grand Scheme”, “The Fear I Long For”,
and “Ghosts In My Room”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Poetry Reading & Analysis (Looking At The World Upside Down ~ Tangled ~ Worth It) (VIDEO)
Features “Looking At The World Upside Down”, “Tangled”, and “Worth It”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Poetry Reading & Analysis (Old Soul ~ I Will Never Be The Same ~ A Poetic Manifesto) (VIDEO)
Features “Old Soul”, “I Will Never Be The Same”, and “A Poetic Manifesto”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Poetry Reading & Analysis (Broken ~ Mirror Image ~ The Way You Treat Me) (VIDEO)
Features “Broken”, “Mirror Image”, and “The Way You Treat Me”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Poetry Reading & Analysis (Self-Inflicted ~ One Dimension ~ Value) (VIDEO)
Features “Self-Inflicted”, “One Dimension”, and “Value”
from Rather Be Haunted on Amazon.com
Rather Be Haunted (VIDEO)
Theme of Rather Be Haunted & Explanation behind Title
– Valerie Parente (7-13-2020)
Poetic Plot
Poetic Plot by Valerie Parente
For the past few years
the only thing that got rid of my writer’s block
was when you’d go and pissed me off
so now that you’re dead and gone
I’m struggling to remember how to start.
How do I write a piece from my heart
without getting your image involved?
Because you were the one to break me apart
and I know that contradicts my thoughts
that I’m trying to write about moving on
but it’s way too damn hard
not to end this with a vicious remark
a quick fuck you for affecting my art
and a quick thank you for making me your pawn
because that sick game you called my fault
made a hell of a good poetic plot.

– Valerie Parente (7-6-2020)
Rather Be Haunted (A Poetry & Prose Collection) OUT NOW
Love. Heartache. Death.
Rather Be Haunted documents a dark period for the poet. Emotions linger like ghosts. Interpersonal relations cause palpable frustration. Death breaks the heart but in the most beautiful way.
Through chronological poetry and prose you can feel all that haunts the obsessive compulsive writer’s psyche as she tries to understand her hyper-sensitivities through rhymes and clever lines. As frustration builds, so does resilience, making the struggles that define our humanity all the more remarkable. After all, isn’t the struggle to make sense of emotions the grandest mark of being alive? What makes us human hurts; that is the gift of the universe.
Rather Be Haunted is the second volume of poetry & prose by Valerie Parente, featuring Mannequin Art alongside writing pieces. You can now own the collection in Paperback or Kindle!
New to Patreon!
For anyone interested in supporting my mission to find beauty in darknes, I just made a Patreon account. No pressure to join, I just figured I should make the option available as an artist in this day and age. http://www.patreon.com/valerieparente
The overarching theme to all my artwork- whether it is poetry, prose, stories, drawings, paintings, or photography- is finding beautiful darkness. I love finding the positive in dark moods, situations, and imagery. This is evident in my written work on my website, valerieparente.wordpress.com, and in my novels available on Amazon (“The Artist, The Muse”, “In Touch”, and “Rather Be Haunted”. I draw inspiration from a lifelong and personal struggle with very severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and anorexia. Each body of work I create centers around mental illness.
The Artist, The Muse : a poetry and prose collection about what it is like to have a mental disorder that influences your art.
In Touch : a fiction novel about a female with OCD, based on my real-life struggle with OCD, through the eyes of a male without the disorder.
Rather Be Haunted : a poetry and prose collection that explores love, heartache, and death from the perspective of a girl with OCD that feels “haunted” by the motifs in life that define her humanity, including my signature Mannequin Art (used as a commentary on what it means to learn how to be a “normal” human).
Thank you from the bottom of my heart if you are interested in my journey to discover beauty in darkness.