Poet: Velazwe

Eating from the Same Pot You call yourself a mother, really? Do you practice your motherhood fairly? Oh! you do not have to answer that question Your actions speak louder than words Hands outstretched from all your children But you choose to fill up only one pair You dutifully and diligently sustain one and neglect the other Turning a blind eye on them as if they don’t exist Carrying on the without a care in the world Calling yourself a mother. Really?
















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Velazwe addresses racism and the city, imagining Johannesburg as a mother who racially discriminates against her children.

Velazwe wrote this piece after a picnic at the Johannesburg Botanical gardens with the Moving Words workshop participants. During the picnic, the women had spoken about the fact that these spaces that they really loved to be in were not made for black people or black women.