Kooser’s Column 151

The former U. S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006 comments about the featured poem: “Thirty, forty years ago, there were lots of hitchhikers, college students, bent old men and old women, and none of them seemed fearful of being out there on the highways at the mercy of strangers. All that's changed, and nobody wants to get in a car with a stranger. Here Steven Huff of New York tells us about a memorable ride.”

And now here are the first four lines of the poem “Safe” by Steven Huff:

You used to be able to flag a ride in this country.

Impossible now--everyone is afraid

of strangers. Well, there was fear then too,

and it was mutual: drivers versus hitchhikers.

The end has a surprising twist; you will want to read the entire poem, “Safe,” at American Life in Poetry.

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