A Return Home

Day Two of the Blackstack "Seven Days of Black Poetry" series is brought to you by the curiosity of 'What is a Motherland?' by zackevia s.—it's one you'll carry with you!

There’s a lot of conversation now about our titles being used as verbs. Recently, the word ‘sisterhood’ has been introduced as a verb and that discourse triggered a thought about mothering and fathering as verbs.

And how would you apply that verb, the action, when it comes to the term, ‘motherland’? This question sparked in my mind reading zackevia s.’s thought-provoking poem connecting the term to the womb and how we as Black people were extracted from both with no option to return “home.” I can’t help but wonder, is this why we long for home the way we do.

---

What is a Motherland?

Written by zackevia s.

I left home at 18 and never looked back (except during holidays)
small town in florida
no place for a girl with big dreams
florida, us is my homeland but not
my motherland

home is different from mother
homeland more temporary than motherland

why does a land one day become a motherland?
you are forcibly removed from it
before you are ready

the disconnect from the land
much like being extracted from the womb
sends you spiraling back to the day of your birth
taken from the land
much like you were taken
from the womb
unhoused for the first time in your life until you are carried home

motherland
a place you cannot return
if you are able to return to your motherland, much like returning to your mother, you are blessed.

---

Really excited to see this idea of the “Seven Days of Black Poetry” series come to life, if you missed the poem that started the series check it out below.