Valentina Cano is a student of classical singing who spends whatever free time either writing or reading. Her works have appeared in places like The Adroit Journal, Perceptions Literary Magazine, Death Rattle, Danse Macabre, Structo, The 22 Magazine, Tuck Magazine, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Web and the Pushcart Prize. You can find her here.

Mania

It is night and the fires have stopped.
Smoke curls around me,
cocooning me in its velvet touch,
I wish it were always like this,
a soft drifting of thoughts,
a languid toss of memories
and words spoken by other mouths.
But it is not.
I know the fires will be stoked tomorrow,
the light reaching into my mind’s every corner,
scorching it raw.