Teenagers should sit here at least once
They deserve this chance early on
Out on the powder road to Kisumu
Up on a tasseled bus as foolish as dawn
When there are just barely people passing on mist
When African trees hum half asleep
And breakfast is somewhere under pillow
Let the window show them.

Growing up requires this tangled calm of waking
This morning’s jolt of haze
The hissing sighs of tribesmen
Teenagers need this seat to turn fidgets into dreams
They need this seat behind a postcard’s sheen
They should see the day’s first rays smeared on buzzards.

At the outset times like this are rare
Wild pups know it lined up against the sunrise, waiting
So do millet seeds furrowed in moonlight, waiting
And even this old road
Dew-lit and toothless
Takes its chances out on crumbling ledges
Roaring waiting for a bony view.

—Hiram Larew (CC'93)