Raven Reverie

January 11, 2026January 11, 2026Leave a comment

Raven Reverie by Valerie Parente

I had a vision
of a lady in a gown
but it was a bird cage
where a raven could be found.

I saw it all in a dream
a future I could articulate and pronounce
so I plucked a feather from the raven
and I wrote the whole thing down.

I believe in manifestation
and there were hints all around
like that feeling of remembering
when something new played out.

There were moments in my life
where a clue was said out loud
and I knew it was speaking to my soul
because there was no hesitation or doubt.

Every reverie
once suspended in the clouds
like a bird flying in the sky
that always ends up in the ground.

We bring to the earth
ideas from a place so profound
that the very act of thought
transcends all logic and sound.

– Valerie Parente (1-11-2026)

Taproot

December 25, 2025December 27, 2025Leave a comment

Taproot by Valerie Parente

Praying
and daydreaming
are one and the same
wanting
and envisioning
share the same face
it starts in the body
then goes out in space
it starts in the soil
then branches away.

I used to think falling to my knees was only for begging
but it’s really for manifesting
because when you’re down on your knees
you’re closer to the ground
closer to the seeds
where it all sprouts out.

– Valerie Parente (12-25-2025)

Wind Chimes

November 16, 2025November 23, 2025Leave a comment

Wind Chimes by Valerie Parente

Out of thin air
you seem to vanish
but that is only true
on a visual canvas.

You still ring in my ears
even though I can’t see you
like the wind that strikes wind chimes
and the sound is the only proof.

You blow me away
with the little signs you show
I can’t see you per se
but I can see how you affect the surroundings I know.

The wind is real
even though you can’t see it
pain is real
even though you can’t see it
love is real
even though you can’t see it
if heaven is real
it doesn’t matter if you believe it
maybe you’re still by my side
even though I can’t see you with my eyes
an energy coursing through time
like the wind to wind chimes.

– Valerie Parente (11-2-2025)

The Singularity, The Soul

September 14, 2025September 14, 2025Leave a comment

The Singularity, The Soul by Valerie Parente

When the darkness comes for you
don’t fear being seduced
because the dark loves you, darling
and you are its muse too.

This black hole is enamored by you
a singularity that pulls you in
if it were simply nothing
you wouldn’t feel the attraction.

No, it’s not a void
or in what you lack
it’s a concentration
it’s a black mass.

You feel it in your chest
sucking your energy
past the event horizon
into a bank of memory.

This singularity, they say
compresses all of you infinitely
yet its volume does not exist
well that sounds like a soul, if you ask me.

Don’t you dare compare the black hole to depression
which is ambivalent and unfazed
it contains more emotion than you could imagine
the density of the soul and the darkness are one and the same.

– Valerie Parente (9-14-2025)

Dream State

September 6, 2025September 26, 2025Leave a comment

Dream State by Valerie Parente

They say when you dream
you can incorporate outside stimuli
and I know that must be true
because I see things behind closed eyes.

When I was younger
I would dream
and dream
and dream
and now that I’m older
I have woken up
and everything I ever wanted was here, waiting for me.
Every sound, voice, and hope that permeated those dream states
Was peaking through the veil
waiting for me to wake.

They say dreams really do come true
but I understand now, it’s reality infused.
Your destiny coincides with your gut,
all you have to do is wake up.

– Valerie Parente (9-6-2025)

Guardian Angel (You)

July 25, 2025July 29, 2025Leave a comment

Guardian Angel (You) by Valerie Parente

You always felt
like someone was with You
watching You
experiencing You
empathizing with You.

You today
watches past You
and everything
You’ve gone through
just as future You
watches You today
and everything
You will ever face.

It is, was, and will always be You.
Guardian angels are real
and You are living proof.

– Valerie Parente (7-25-2025)

Never A Stranger

July 24, 2025July 25, 2025Leave a comment

Never A Stranger by Valerie Parente

They say when you fall in love
you fall in love with a stranger
but you were never a stranger
I dreamt of you every night
you were never absent
you were just out of sight.

I always felt you
even when the world was pitch black
you were a spark of light
my perfect match
lighting the way
so that we could cross paths.

They say you fall in love with a stranger
but there is nothing strange about it.
I’ve been led here today by the belief
that I’d recognize you in a room so crowded
and I was right to live for this anomaly
because I knew how strange it wasn’t.

– Valerie Parente (7-24-2025)

The Sun

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025Leave a comment

The Sun by Valerie Parente

I miss you so much
it burns so deep
but like the Sun
I know you watch over me.
Like the Sun
I can never see you directly
with these little human eyes
in this little human body
but I can feel your warmth
and I know your heat
and even though I can’t reach out and touch you
I know you reach for me.

– Valerie Parente (7-17-2025)

Forbidden Fruit

May 31, 2025May 31, 2025Leave a comment

Forbidden Fruit by Valerie Parente

Temptation isn’t temptation
without a moral compass
and sin isn’t sin
without omniscient justice.
But who gets to say
what is and isn’t forbidden?
Who are you really spiting
with the apple you’ve bitten?
How can you say my nature is evil
if I was created in His image
then turn around and say He loves me
without any conditions?

I’ve deprived myself long enough
thanks to willful ignorance,
starved myself
thinking I would be different,
felt the bones of my ribcage
with blind commitment,
realized I lost half my life
to a sick and twisted vision,
then rose from the dead
with a whole new mission;
I will sink my teeth into fruit
regardless of permission.