Muhammad:
46 years old
gold teeth
grandfather was a slave
reads at an eighth grade level
young gangbangers call him
an Uncle Tom
because he smiles all the time
is always pleasant
and talks about his time at college.

the future Mrs. Winthrop Allen’s
father has all his teeth
mother had cosmetic surgery
and belongs to a country club.

she is in the wedding section
of the newspaper
where it says she attended
the University of Colorado
(society language that means she
flunked out).
whose future husband is in the food
industry
(society language that means he works
at Friendly’s).

Muhammad like the future
Mrs. Winthrop Allen
flunked out of college
with no society page to tell his story
he settles on proudly carrying
his old college textbooks every day
spending hours at the neighborhood
barber shop
flashing the gold teeth he is so proud of
and giving his daily
commencement address
to both willing and unwilling listeners
that he attended college
was a business major
and has a necklace made of ears
from the Viet Nam war.