An Empath’s Tangent by Valerie Parente
Sometimes I think I’m feeling my own feelings but I’m really just feeling your feelings because I’m so sensitive to your senses and I make sense of it like it’s my sensations so I start to care too much when you don’t care at all and I’m not sure how to take care of myself without trying to take care of someone else.
– Valerie Parente (3-12-2020)
Hyper-Sensitive Super Power by Valerie Parente
I am a super sensitive being
I attach myself to feelings
even though I know beyond reason
that the attachment causes a deep heaviness
as I force the emotions to linger in my chest
terrified by the way people simply forget
it’s a bad habit that makes me look insane
because I remember every single thing you say
yet I wouldn’t have it any other way
because I can see light in a world of shadows
the hyper-awareness weeds out the people who are shallow
and inflicts deeper meaning in the people I value
I know there is power in my sensitivity
that this is either going to be the thing that kills me
or the thing that saves me.
– Valerie Parente (3-4-2020)
Black Hole by Valerie Parente
Why is it that
my deepest pain
is not the pain of loss or betrayal or heartbreak
it’s the pain that has no reason for being there
no origin
as if I was simply born with this
and I can’t help but wonder
do other people feel this too?
An inexplicable pull into a black hole? Meant to consume.
– Valerie Parente (3-3-2020)
Innocently Me by Valerie Parente
I refuse to feel guilty for being innocently me.
I do nothing to compel, I just act like myself.
You’re not really scared of me,
you’re scared of how you feel when you’re around me
and how you feel when you’re around me is not my responsibility.
– Valerie Parente (3-1-2020)
Self-Sufficient Psyche by Valerie Parente
How dare you make me feel crazy when you know I could do that all on my own.
– Valerie Parente (2-28-2020)
Pick A Fight by Valerie Parente
Sometimes I just want to pick a fight
because I don’t know how to deal with my pain inside
and transferring the blame onto someone else
makes it easier to deal with the battle happening within myself.
– Valerie Parente (2-27-2020)
To Give You My Poetry by Valerie Parente
I want to give you my poetry
not because I need your reaction
but because I need to no longer internalize these feelings while they eat away at me.
All I really need is to be seen
To have you divide your attention and assign it to me
Then you’ll finally see the impact you have on my being.
– Valerie Parente (2-19-2020)
Silenced for Safety by Valerie Parente
Few things feel as bad
as leaving people you love with no explanation
not because they don’t deserve one,
but because you’ve been traumatized to the point that it feels safer just to stay silent.
– Valerie Parente (2-18-2020)
Hostile Environment by Valerie Parente
It was never about correcting actions,
it was about control.
It was never about bettering me,
it was about bullying me.
It was never about teamwork,
it was about tyranny.
It was never about reaching out,
it was about retaliating.
It was never about improvement
it was about intimidation.
It was never about positivity,
it was about your power trip.
It was never about building me up,
it was about breaking me down until I finally gave up.
And you might think that you’ve won
but the fact that I left before you could have the satisfaction of spitting in my face one last time says otherwise.
– Valerie Parente (2-18-2020)
Intellectual Slut by Valerie Parente
Dear Me,
Don’t stop being an intellectual slut and telling people you just meet
all your hopes and your dreams
and what you think the meaning of life might be.
Sincerely,
Val
– Valerie Parente (2-17-2020)
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