Blue Lips by Valerie Parente
You say, something about the cold
and how it makes you depressed
like the whole world goes dark
and you lose all interest.
You say, the cold is like death
but for me I feel alive
because we can only see breath
when it’s cold outside.
I say, something about the cold
and how it makes my lips blue.
Well at least when I’m cold
I’m the color of you.
– Valerie Parente (8-24-2025)
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)
One Thing Is Certain… Seasons Change by Valerie Parente
Days are getting longer,
sunlight shining down,
the sound of burning rubber,
in this cute little town,
and I wouldn’t change a thing,
even if it kept you around.
Sitting on these bleachers,
so far below the clouds,
last year I sat here in torment,
wondering where, when, and how
I’d ever begin to forget the good times,
unaware remembering was allowed.
I mistook peace for apathy,
clinging on to a heavy frown,
thinking loneliness all alone,
was worse than loneliness in a crowd,
but I’ve found my peace of mind,
and in my lonesome it was found.
I’m happier today,
with my feet on the ground,
no more unfair expectations,
in a psyche so loud,
I proved I can survive,
a sadness so profound,
it didn’t make sense at the time,
but I can make sense of it now.
– Valerie Parente (3-9-2021)
valerieparente 