Zero is equilibrium, balance
The moment before overdraft
And every night, I watch you lose the zero
Stumbling, falling, cussing these four walls into blank discursive space
Swaying back and forth, like a flag for the nation of our trauma
Back and forth, beyond the negatives or positives
Fumbling, dropping, spilling
You lose the zero in so many ways
But never more than when you stand in front of me with your child eyes
And 50 becomes 5
Snake Charming
For thousands of chainmail-clad nights
I watched you cleanse yourself of demons on the kitchen floor
Pulling snakes from your throat
And hope from your head
Years of resentment under foot
I step softly
And laugh as you watch me
Swallow the serpent of our collective pain
Worldly
Where the train goes, my heart goes
Getting off at every station
Stay for a minute, stay for a year
Each place the same in culmination
In every new city, I worry
There’s nowhere further to go
Yet eventually, the trip continues
Always a new place down the road
Most places, there’s nothing to keep me
Nowhere to rest my head
A quiet escape in the morning
An empty impression left on the bed
But what is it to stay here
To breathe with the seasons change
To know this place throughout
To sing and praise its name
Aubrianna Snow is a Mi’kmaw writer and feminist living and working in Treaty Six Territory, Canada. A graduate of MacEwan University’s journalism program, she writes primarily creative non-fiction and poetry. As a survivor and violence prevention worker, she centres themes of healing from interpersonal and systemic violence. You can find her work in Chatelaine and Muskrat Magazine. Find her on twitter at @aubrisnow or on her webpage aubriannasnow.com.
the Decolonial Passage 