They sat down at a table
in a restaurant near their home.
They both ordered eggs and coffee.
For her, two, sunny side up,
and a large coffee with cream and sugar.
For him, one, his coffee black.

“Only here can a factory worker become a governor,” she said.
“And a girl from the projects become an astronaut,” she added.
“The way I see it,” he said, “one loser somehow makes it,
and we all have to live with false hope.”