Stream of consciousness poem -- part 56

Chapter 56

November 1, 2011 – And still in the morning – just

We arrive

At the nearest

Social Security Office

Only slightly frazzled

Because I only

Drove past it

Once

Well, twice

My brother

Walks my son

Into the office

While I walk my coffee

Back to

The car

No coffee allowed

Inside

And then

We wait

And wait

And wait

Some more

With an

Antsy

Almost-three-year-old

And an anxious

Almost-forty-year-old

And no

Coffee

We wait

For hours

Finally

Our letter-numbers

Are called

We hurry

To the 

Appointed

Window

We don’t want

To lose

Our chance

The man

At the window

Is most genial

When he tells us

That we cannot get

A new Social Security Card

Without a picture ID

Or a Driver’s

License

“But we can’t

Get a picture ID

Or a Driver’s License

Without

A Social Security Card,”

I say

“Yes,”

He answers

In his most genial way

“That is a

Problem”