The Cab Diver

I took a cab, went to a known destination,
The cab driver asked,
'Are you a professor?' and I said yes.

He then went on,
'I have a daughter, she is 17 year old.
One day she came home and asked,
"Daddy, I need money for college application,
My teacher said we must apply so we have more changes for admission."
That night, I cannot sleep,
I hardly have money for her tuition every semester,
how will I be able to get money for her this time?'

I fell silent, because I did not know what to say.

He went on,
'The next morning, I told my daughter,
"Daddy will give you 10,000 dollars for college application.
I know it's not much,
but that's all Daddy can give."
Professor, I don't know if she will be happy with that,
but I have done my best.
Now I want to ask you,
why did our government change the rules for college application?
Doesn't this make it harder for people like me to enter college?'

More than ten years had passed since then,
I had no answer for him then,
I have no answer for him now.
However, I can't forget the tears in his eyes.
Although he took me to my destination that day,
I have ever since thinking about my own destination.