I Still Dream of You by Valerie Parente
I still dream of you
and I never get confused
because at the core of my consciousness
I realize you never really left.
When I see you in my dreams
everything feels like its true quality
and there is never a question
just a reoccurring remembrance
that I might have lost you in this life
but that loss didn’t reconfigure my mind
and within me, you are always present
within me, you rest in heaven.
– Valerie Parente (11-13-2021)
Features “Sitting on Skulls and Bones”
and “Not Bionic”
from Moonchild Manifesto on Amazon.com
Dorothy by Valerie Parente
Hide away
from a tornado
the very chaos
of my soul
wear my heart
like my clothes
tap you twice
bring me home
glitter in these steps
make the most
of this stardust
head to toe
I’ve been lost
like a plucked rose
so ruby red
all on my own
wind me down
a yellow brick road
’cause now I’m ready
for the rainbow.
– Valerie Parente (9-12-2021)
Beg A Question – The Royal Harpy & The Lunar Druid (A Fantasy Chronicle) by Valerie Parente
The royal harpy’s sickness
has always been her muse
and that’s precisely why this princess
couldn’t differentiate from the two.
On a night of pure stillness
she captured the druid of the moon
she took him as her witness
and begged him for the truth.
“Surely it’s your business,
and I will not be made a fool,
tell me, am I my condition
or is my condition just a ruse?”
The lunar druid was oddly smitten
remembering all the princess had been through
a young harpy tormented by children
so he posed a question too.
“Did they bully you for your condition?
Or was this your condition because they bullied you?”
“I’m not sure I know the difference,”
the princess whispered so confused.
That druid of the moon simply listened
as he heard all he needed to
and as his emerald eyes glistened
he whispered, “That is your proof.”
– Valerie Parente (7-30-2021)
Features “The Spider Princess”, “The Moon & The Third Eye”,
and “The Beauty of Darkness (I)”
from Moonchild Manifesto on Amazon.com
Hummingbird (A Loved One Says Hi) by Valerie Parente
We spoke of her
while tears overflowed
remembering our love
when it had a place to go.
That was when
our pain became borrowed
nature came by
and acknowledged the sorrow.
A sweet hummingbird
tapped on the window twice
that little girl came back
to show us she’s alright.
And even if
that body wasn’t hers
it still sparked
a sweet reminder.
We won’t know the truth
but we do know this
that another being’s life
made us think of her image.
What remains true
is the shape of nature
a circle of incarnations
being made by a maker.
Not in this life
can I ever be sure
that the hummingbird
was really her.
But what I am sure of
is a feeling so profound
that this little bird’s life
is tied to where she is now.
– Valerie Parente (7-24-2021)
Shadow Sign by Valerie Parente
Shadow Sign
you weren’t the light of my life
you were just the shape in which I had been traumatized
I thought you were what I wanted
after all these years of being haunted
because the truth of the matter is
I was never really his
and that unofficial kind of bliss
had me tracing my steps with darkness.
Because Shadow Sign
you were never mine
and with your outline I realize
you weren’t the problem, you were its signal
not something that I was ever meant to rekindle
a simplification of the self
implied light from somewhere else
and that’s the truth to mental health
I looked for love when what I needed was help.
– Valerie Parente (7-21-2021)
“Moonchild Manifesto” on Amazon.com
Spark by Valerie Parente
I didn’t need the unequivocal reciprocation from the stars
to feel that motivating spark
all I needed was a feeling
then I ran like the wind.
Nothing mutual was necessary when I decided to run
I felt compelled and that was enough
ambivalence nor rejection mattered
I ran, and rewards came after.
That path was everything because that path was my point of view
I ran a marathon not because the stars told me to
but because they lit up the dark
even when I could not.
Something beautiful happened during those simple, naive days
I didn’t realize, but I won before the end of the race
I aimed to be like the stars early on
but that spark was in me all along.
– Valerie Parente (7-11-2021)
The Key To Happy by Valerie Parente
I didn’t get better because I got to love you
I got to love you because I got better.
I didn’t heal for you
I healed for me
and that is why
I am finally free
to truly enjoy
another being
without depending
on them for healing.
This is the honest truth
this is the real key
accept yourself
then enjoy company.
– Valerie Parente (7-6-2021)
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