"my mother" personifies the motherland as a complex, deeply flawed maternal figure who evokes conflicting emotions of love, pain, and disillusionment. It explores themes of identity, heritage, and betrayal, painting a vivid portrait of a nation both beautiful and brutal, nurturing yet destructive. Through visceral imagery and a raw emotional tone, Angela navigates the struggle of belonging, the scars of collective history, and the longing for reconciliation in the face of irreparable harm. The poem ultimately captures the paradox of unconditional love for a motherland that simultaneously nourishes wounds and juxtaposes moments of awe and admiration with grief, culminating in a powerful tension between love for one's origins and the pain they inflict.
The project is part of the subthemes Re-imagining identity through poetry, Healing Narratives - Poetry, Mental Health and Collective Trauma.
Author
Angela Yausheva
Angela Yausheva is a spoken word artist, whose work delves into resilience, identity, and the intricacies of self-discovery. Drawing from themes of displacement and introspection, her verses confront the intersections of inner strength, memory, and a search for home. Angela is a member of the Federation of Writers (Scotland), Loud Poets Community (Edinburgh), and Glasgow City of Poets. In 2019, Angela was awarded an MC Prize at a poetry slam in Copenhagen, in 2020 she headlined Troubled Tongues Spoken Word Night in London, and in 2025 she was a feature act at the Raise the Vibration Festival (The Bread and Roses Theatre) and Loud Poets Open Mic (Scottish Storytelling Centre).
Her work has been published in Product Mag, GUPS Poetry Zine, The Poetry Lighthouse and Into Poetry, and showcased by the Scottish Poetry Library and Stanza International Poetry Festival Poetry Film Contest. More of Angela’s work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/speaking_that_word
