“Cape Town is a city of opposites… crowded yet empty, loud but filled with quiet moments. There is fear and apprehension in the streets, but hope and relentless optimism in the people. It lives in the waves of the oceans and the shadows of the mountains. It is African and European; young and old; new and forgotten; shining and rusty; and bichromatic and colorful, all at once.”
If only I knew then. That yes, in fact, it was going to be better. And worse. That I would learn new types of joy. But I was also going to explore pain and new kinds of rejection and loneliness. That my memories four years later would be cloudy, made of regret and hard lessons learned. That I would carry burdens I never expected to carry and I’d collect many stories I wish I didn’t. That at the drop of a hat, I could name several people who really don’t like me, names that bring pain and rejection instantly. Pain for myself too, and the ways I acted.
Finding confidence, joy, and the courage to speak out after six years in college, Tamiah Coffee bears it all: Her body, her words, her mind, exactly the way she is
“Being a black woman on this campus has sucked for so long.”
They said:
“Six words or less to tell your life story…
"Six words or less to tell your life story… Include every memory in your mind's inventory "If only they saw me now," were the six words I chose Yes, noncommittal and nostalgic but a nice, pleasant prose It was later that I realized I can't share my storied life It's still changing daily and always beating new strife Trying to explain my mind would be in vain For the minute I'd finish, I'd have to amend it And add the present and all it contains I’m challenged by old choices to love and respect Despite knowing deep down I'm not even close to perfect This rhyming is trying To share what I care, About, but also trying to frame Who I have been, who I will be And what combines my person and my name." - Anika Kieler, October 2022
The Anthology of a Curio 