Tag: Valerie Parente

Hedge Maze

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Hedge Maze by Valerie Parente

Hedge maze, nature made,
this confusing mystery,
then man came with sheers,
to make me feel pretty.
I didn’t ask to be planted,
when I became a seed,
sharp corners you touch,
in a labyrinth of evergreen.
You must get through the brush,
if you want to see,
what it’s like to love,
and be loved effortlessly.
I stumble through this maze,
it’s so new to me,
even though these hedges,
are my anatomy.
I am one with this path,
and it is one with my pleas,
never straying too far,
from the dream I dreamed.
I trust where it goes,
without a map to read,
even when I get lost,
I’m never out of reach.
I give you this hedge maze,
if you give me your feet,
we’ll do this together,
navigate this journey.

– Valerie Parente (4-23-2021)

Where I Come From

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Where I Come From by Valerie Parente

I made it personal on purpose,
so you could see the grace and the grit,
made the heartache so worth it,
’cause it’s an artist you played with.

Here’s the muse I choose to use,
thank you for seeing these metaphors through,
it got rough when I spoke the truth,
because of how much I love you.

Now it’s copyrighted to my tongue,
never resent where I come from,
using the fire in my lungs,
let’s flip the pages for fun.

My collection, my protection,
from any potential detriment,
it brought me the ideal lesson,
that’s the power of manifesting.

– Valerie Parente (6-16-2021)

The Architect

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The Architect by Valerie Parente

She who wears the claw of chrome,
upon her right hand,
can create worlds,
from a pathological plan.

It’s the illness in her defective bones,
that whispers the blueprint,
adjusting the world order,
to rebuild from the ruins.

She’s made it her grand mission,
to map out this pain,
now it’s her duty,
to make a home out of a maze.

With bright pink locks of hair,
she has your attention,
they agree with the task,
but don’t understand the reference.

She’s called a freak when she lays it out,
with her architectural mind,
but her cultural impact,
is an outcome that doesn’t lie.

She has an eye for constructing it all,
knows where to lie the stones,
knows where to build up,
knows where to dig a hole.

Everybody wants the stigma to vanish,
but rarely do they realize,
that to see past the roadblocks,
we need to open our eyes.

– Valerie Parente (6-16-2021)

The Femme Fatale

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The Femme Fatale by Valerie Parente

That woman holds the serpent
doing as she pleases
and wouldn’t you like to know
that’s why they call her deviant.

They gave her scarlet horns
so she adorned them with charms
reminders of her intentions
from the moon and the stars.

That woman is in charge
that’s why they call her malevolent
she didn’t kill any man
she killed man’s dominance.

– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)

Divine Design

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Divine Design by Valerie Parente

There’s no such thing as coincidence,
there has to be design,
because how can I find the perfect words,
that just so happen to rhyme?
You’re telling me poets are just lucky?
That language just so happens to coincide,
that there’s rhythm to the psyche,
that can be written in artistic lines,
that the material world naturally mirrors,
the effortless world inside my mind?
No, I don’t believe in luck,
I believe in the divine,
based on every one of your points,
used to describe otherwise.

– Valerie Parente (6-15-2021)

Nemesis (Not Me)

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Nemesis (Not Me) by Valerie Parente

I’m finally happy
and my OCD still found me.
I see you in my dreams
with a tangible body
but when I go to defeat you
you’re the nemesis that continues
like a chain that keeps repeating
in a relationship so uneven.
I see you in so many forms
using my sweet slumber to return
and I punch, I kick, I scream
I wrestle to separate from the enemy
and I get oh so frantic
to justify my antics
begging the peers before my eyes
to understand that I’m the good guy
that I am separate from this disease
but then I wake up and it’s not a dream.
I still have this sickness on my skin
when I’m awake I’m still hallucinating
and it’s hard to believe I used to be afraid
convinced I’d be so lost without this charade
but now that I’m full grown I finally see
that this disease is nothing without me.
You’re just a sickness that attaches
used my puberty to take advantage
and I was far too young to understand
that your golden offer was a cruel scam.
How dare you stick yourself to me
even when my brain is asleep?
How dare you attack those I love
as if my entire psyche wasn’t enough?
And even though I’m so damn exhausted
by the nemesis in my subconscious
I’ve finally found my grace and solace
knowing I can manipulate you as an artist.

– Valerie Parente (6-13-2021)

Catharsis

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Catharsis by Valerie Parente

When she asked “How do you deal with the toxicity of the public?”
I said “Write, write, write,
channel all your frustration in creation,
create, create, create,
channel all your energy into artistic placement,
paint words into memorable phrases,
find meaning in the oddest places,
make a collection of your lessons,
help the lost find their blessings,
the hardship will always get better,
and the wisdom goes on forever,
find your catharsis and give it away,
translate the world that lives in your brain,
be the God you want God to be,
and then you will find your peace.”

– Valerie Parente (6-7-2021)

I Want To Be Heard

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I Want To Be Heard by Valerie Parente

It’s not that I want to be famous,
it’s that I want to be heard,
and I know I can touch you,
if you get in touch with my words.

I took a lot of carefully constructed time,
from a child to the adult I am now,
I try my best to add a positive spin,
a piece of beauty in an ugly crowd.

There is nothing more important than a voice,
I realized that when I was a sick teen,
and if you don’t like what you hear,
you sure as hell have the right to intervene.

I saw a lot of talk about mental disorders,
that glamorized the illness over healing,
and I knew right then and there,
I wanted to patch over the bleeding.

There are always silver linings to our pain,
and it took a long time for me to see them,
but the one thing that saves me every day,
is the process of creating and artistic freedom.

I didn’t go through hell for nothing,
mental health awareness is the goal,
there’s a darkness we can manipulate,
shedding light in the shadows.

Make it meta, make it metaphorical,
make these poems layered infinitely,
I’ve got your back and that’s a promise,
if you’re kind enough to listen to me.

– Valerie Parente (6-7-2021)