Written by Dorian Haarhoff, May 2024

Website: https://dorianhaarhoffblog.co.za/

All hail to Kari, now at a lisdexic 66,

you, a Yin Yang maiden, ever young.

You balance life on a motorbike,

roaring up Africa in a lotus pose,

a turban wrap-flap around your head.

Our enchanted chanting woman,

dancing Diva, our Kari kaleidoscope.

We rotate it 7 times and what do we see?

7 Charka shades (but x 11 that’s 77?

Do not fear, we’ll get there, by heaven).

 

At 11, about to be a drum majorette,

your sister upstaged you, playing

Scarlett O’Hara at fever pitch, while a pre-teen

paced up and down, in quarantine.

BY 22 marriage 2, pregnant with second child,

mother to Georgy then Ray, in tango twos.

Later Cupid’s arrow will pierce a grandma’s heart.

At 33 practising to be the Comrades

runner you became. A comrade to us ever.

Run, run ran. Try to catch Kari if you can.

Kokesto and Archer add to the clan.

 

We watch a 44 year driver off to supply,

Maputo to Secunda, a pipeline for gas

(We put that in our pipes and smoke it too.)

A truck and trailer rover you became.

You drove that heavy gadget load,

jackknifing it at a border crossing.

(Is that the origin of Weimaraner Jack’s name?

When he barks at walkers, you’re the fastest

water gun draw in the doggie West.)

What does HDI stand for? Holding breath we wait.

Highly Developed Intuitive? Holistic Diva Initiate?

 

 

We praise the one who integrates

and transforms blows, robberies and scars,

who’s buried and grieved family and friends.

Come 55, this Tante, becomes Tantra Yoga teacher,

dancing away to Thailand and beyond,

a chant on your lips, Mudra at fingertips.

Did you teach the holy Hindu cows to moo-dra too?

Nesting in a renovated home, full moon meditation.

Splashing with dolphins, you become one of them.

And now a Sedgefield 66, a global trainer, I say.

flying home from India Greece and the USA.

 

Friend of the hobo Sapiens that drift

along the vlei, picker up of litter trash.

You bathe your hair and douse your feet

in vlei mud while mudra fingers gesture to the sky.

Death doula, birth doula and doula in-between

in Somatic encounter, a heart-brain queen.

You throw the listening bones beneath your skin

so the science of compassion can change our brain.

Phoenix rising, you offer empathy and poise

to all in a Buddha kindness gaze. We are seen.

You feed bodies and spirits Wild Oats cuisine.

 

Remember the many British comedy Carry-Ons?

May there be at least 77 Carry on Kari movie ones,

Trailing a rich Richie laughter life, throwing the dice

present in our faces, alive in our eyes.

high-step twirling, you lead the drummie carnival.

You stitch us through your Sanskrit weave,

into garments, intimate, tricks up your sleeve.

You shield others and your sweet self, dear mench,

beneath a magic cloak of grace and wonder.

You who live for love, joy and CanCan kicks

Now praised in every line – which equals sixty-six.

 

With love Dorian 17 May 2024