he scored seventeen
has a scholarship waiting
asks to leave class now

the minimum score?
twenty-one for survival
thirty-six: perfect

not even halfway
to the level of knowledge
for college-bound kids

but he’ll play football
that’s all that really matters
money, money, greed

meanwhile, i teach kids
who spend hours reading words
that will take them where?

the depth of a poem
the silence of acceptance
knowledge lost in games