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Social Security
by
Anita S. Pulier


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You pay in all your working life
till the day you comb your thinning hair
and head into the Claims Dept
birth certificate in hand
to retrieve your money, please.
 
They speak in loud voices
as if you are demented
they do not know how hard you worked
how weary you feel or understand
the labyrinth which brought you
face to face with this uncivil servant.
 
He asks if you have
committed heinous crimes
against your country,
you defend yourself
politely, as the only crime
you can recall is aging.
 
He tells you in a droning monotone
that you will get less money because you have
come too early, or arrived too late,
and very soon, when they run out
you will get nothing.
 
On the bus ride home,
you notice the strong putrid
smell of bureaucracy
being blown away
by gusts of exhaust you
no longer have to breathe
on someone else’s schedule.
 
© by Anita S. Pulier.
Used with the author’s permission.
 

Anita S. Pulier is a graduate of New York University and New York Law School. After many years of practicing law in New York and New Jersey, she has served for the past several years as a U.S. representative for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom at the United Nations. Anita's poems have been published both online and in print; her chapbook, Perfect Diet, was recently released by Finishing Line Press. Anita lives between New York City and Los Angeles; learn more about her at http://www.psymeet.com/anitaspulier/.


Post New Comment:
69Dorcas:
SS has been fair with me; no more or less than I expected.
Posted 08/14/2012 06:45 PM
Glen Sorestad:
A great tongue-in-cheek poem.
Posted 08/14/2012 11:18 AM
Larry Schug:
My experience with S.S. has been nothing but positive. I especially liked the last lines of this poem. There were times it felt like the boss told me when to inhale and exhale and I wanted him to cease doing both!
Posted 08/14/2012 11:18 AM
Charly:
I find the poem indicative of the often non-spoken denigration of we seniors.
Posted 08/14/2012 07:58 AM


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