Snapshots of Nairobi

sprawling, crawling city...
oxymoronic juxtaposition of
wealth abutting abject poverty
the modern arm-in-arm with the primitive
the all-pervasive odor and gray-white smoke
    of garbage burning
traffic moving helter-skelter through
    crowded streets, spewing clouds
    of exhaust into the already-pungent air
          or stalled bumper-to-bumper for
          seeming hours
a baker's dozen of mahogany bedsteads
    for sale decorate on street corner
    while on another stands a huge
    indoor shopping center
an endless parade of people walking
    along the roadside
occasionally, women bearing produce
    on their heads
here a small herd of goats grazing on
    sparse grass
there a yellow-vested work crew of
    women & men clearing rocks from
    a median strip
while overhead large hawks and herons
and garbage birds reel and soar beneath
the trail of jets
        this is Nairobi