In Hell, with You
I’m sitting,
rewinding and fast-forwarding frowns
and slowly clenching eyelids.
My heart tattoos my chest
until only bruises clothe it.
But there is nothing I can do
from this side of the screen,
no carpet I can brush down
so the folds don’t trip you anymore.
I am as caged as you,
roaring at my own head.
-Valentina Cano
Suffocation
My thoughts weave a net around me.
One full of spaces and air pockets,
all feigning safety.
Things I’d like to forget
shake hands like new fiends.
Join teams.
Color code.
And I sit here,
hands holding up a head turning to stone,
wanting to jump off, leap way,
and instead, caught.
Over and over.
Limbs tangled in words.
-Valentina Cano
Ouroboros
Repetition is a face,
a movement like a sparrow’s shoulder blade
shifting in flight,
the color of your hair (screaming sunset).
But I know that it is pointless,
checking off one twitch,
one syllable raised like an exclamation point
over your head.
No matter how many times I rip
your words apart, I will never find
the sounds I want.
I’ll just keep ripping and ripping.
Endless loops of nothing.
-Valentina Cano
