The Dead Citizen Poem by Gert Strydom

A man went to get his identity document
and for a passport at the same time
and was found by the Department of Home Affairs
to be dead and buried
and they did not care that he was still living
and instead declared him deceased and past away

His accounts at the bank were frozen
as part of the estate
of a person deceased
and he couldn’t leave the country
or renew his driver’s license
and draw any money
and he was declared to be deceased and past away.

He went to the head office
of that great State Department
and declared his problem with them
and they were amused
that the dead citizen
had risen again,
but he was still a living man
with substance and form
and not a ghost
that had stepped from the grave
and he was declared to be deceased and past away.