violence – valerieparente

Many Women, Some Men by Valerie Parente

Many women play dumb
as not to offend
because to anger some men
could mean her life’s end.

Many women go ghost
as not to piss off
fearing rejection
could mean her life stops.

Many women hold their keys
as a means to defend
between the knuckles
where her life depends.

Many women smile back
as a way to pretend
because if she disapproves
her life could be threatened.

Some men need an explicit signal
but when they receive that, they attack
then turn around and blame women
for putting on an act.

And the knee-jerk reaction
is to say “not all men”
but what do you call it when a small portion
affects every single woman?

– Valerie Parente (4-24-2026)

Bloodshed by Valerie Parente

They say us women are the weak ones
even though every month we shed blood
created with a mechanism for self sacrifice
sometimes giving our own life to create more life.

Not every woman is allowed to do what she wants
some bleed and make life whether they like it or not
and these men only bleed when they decide
deciding to bleed as a means to end lives.

What’s with all these disenchanted young men
thinking the solution is to resort to bloodshed?
That to eliminate their own unpleasant feelings
they must cause some kind of chaos and bleeding.

Their bloodshed is perfectly preventable
a consequence to actions deemed inevitable
but it’s women’s bloodshed that was never a choice
yet our society makes a choice to teach it to boys.

Once a month every year all because of hormones
every week a violent news story because he feels alone
but make no mistake, it was never him vs. her
it’s what we decide to do with nature vs. nurture.