Poetry has a way of engaging the senses. Of inviting us into the world of another. Anmiray welcomes us into her private space — a place of deep introspection with a sensibility for the very notion of identity. As a poet and cultural activist — raised in Montagu and currently residing in Cape Town — she reflects on her indigenous descendancy, the art forms that consume her, and her spiritual journey towards emancipation. “I started writing poems on my identity — Jy is Khoi — meaning you are a Khoi. You’re from the ancient tribes. You’re a descendant. I wrote about questions I heard clearly in dreams or even visions I didn’t understand.” By acknowledging such voices, visions, and even the dreams she couldn’t quite remember, writing became a means of release for Anmiray. “Most of the time, I would just write from what I feel,” she offers. “If I feel an emotion I don't know, I would just write. I allowed myself, with a pen, to just write it all out. So a lot of the answers came through my poetry.” This soon became a gift that she shared. Something she would invite loved ones to experience, which later extended to the larger community around her. “I would share some of my poems with friends of mine, until it went on and on and people would start asking me to attend functions and things. That's how I gained the title. Somehow, people saw me. And now I'm doing poetry.” Anmiray also finds fulfilment in the medium of dance — a medium almost as evocative as speech itself. “Dancing is a way of expressing myself, in a way that is just me, being me,” she reflects.” With both magnetism and grace, her moves allow her to let loose and communicate all the things she would otherwise repress. “Dancing is a different form of communication. It is a spiritual thing. It is honouring the creator, the creations, and myself as a woman. Honouring time, and honouring the feeling of what is in the present. That’s what dancing is for me.” For Anmiray, being of Bushman lineage has less to do with one’s race but rather the consideration for the earth and humanity as a whole. As she expresses, “In this day and age where we are now, being a Bushman, being a child of the soil, is about being a human being that's got love for his fellow human being. Love for nature. Love for animals, plants, and understanding that the spirits that reside within you, reside within everything else.” This is the definition of a Bushman to her: a person who understands the nuances between man and nature. “It's not man and nature — it's man as nature,” she affirms. Throughout her journey, Anmiray sought a life partner. “I needed someone that I can share my life with,” she shares. Timo became that person for her. Together, they have chosen to share the intricacies of their rich cultural heritage with the wider community, through performing arts and awareness programmes. “Myself and Timo are both poets. The ultimate goal is community upliftment and empowerment through cultural heritage tours, where we would be taking our people to our people so they can experience our culture first-hand,” Anmiray explains. “People say it is ‘the revival’. But it is not the revival of the culture — our culture wasn't dead, It’s just that the light wasn't shown on it, so that's what we're doing”.