“Karkar”

Both versions of “Karkar”¹ (previously “Rietpypie”) are finished. The first, “Karkar”, consists of three stanzas and the second, “Karkar Flowers”, of two. Their styles differ, but their themes are the same: delight at the fiery flower, vivid in the setting sun. Which version to include in the final collection, I am yet to decide.

1. “Karkar” (pronounced [kaRkaR] with a trilled [R]) is onomatopoeic, referring to the sound produced when rubbing the ribbed dry leaves together.

The compositions took much longer than anticipated: an unprecedented five months (though writing was sporadic), interrupted by life and, most significantly, love. Now, more focused on the anthology than ever, I eagerly begin development on “Lobelia” (working title), the second of the “Wild Flower Sketches”.

“Lobelia”

The wild Thin-stalked Lobelia is endemic to the Overberg.² It first enraptured me in 2018 on a mountain slope not far from where I would see it again, three seasons later (along with other wild flowers new to me, among them, the Karkar Flower). Bewitched by its winglike violet petals in the breeze, a poem was inevitable.

2. As are all the flowers and creatures of which I write—swallows, the only exception. (The Overberg is an agricultural region in the Western Cape province of South Africa.)

Its loveliness I shall now attempt to extol by developing the sketch I composed after the second encounter. I intend to write more frequently, so I expect it should be completed faster than its companion “Karkar” set; however, poems are not predictable, and I must humbly submit to my Muse (that gentle wind o’er the hills).