Kafka walked into the DMV and took a number sixty-three,
number sixty-two was serving and the sign said do not flee,
the clerk looked up and said, I see you have a form to file,
Kafka said, I have been filing since before the aisle.
The form required a form to get the form that got the form,
and the form to get the form required proof against the norm,
and the proof required a document that predated birth,
and Kafka smiled because at last someone had captured worth.
Kafka at the counter with a bureaucratic grin,
every door leads to a hallway and every hallway leads within,
the system is the castle and the castle is the joke,
and Kafka wrote it all down when the number sign spoke.
He asked the clerk if there was a supervisor to see,
the clerk said yes there is one but the supervisor’s key,
is held by someone else who holds the key to their own door,
and the key to that one is in processing from before.
Kafka took his novel out and wrote through the afternoon,
while number sixty-three sat waiting for the promised boon,
they called him at the closing time and said, come back at eight,
and Kafka said, of course, this is exactly why I came so late.