Catch-22

In a land of paradox, where logic takes a dive,
To cast a ballot, you must first be alive,
Alive in the eyes of the state, with a papery soul,
But that very life, dear friend, is out of your control.

To become a citizen, you must raise your hand,
Declare your allegiance, join the promised land,
But raising that hand requires a citizen's might,
A loop of absurdity, a bureaucratic blight.

"Can't vote without citizenship," the clerk will declare,
With a bureaucratic smirk, and a vacant stare,
"But citizenship, my friend, requires the vote's decree,
A Catch-22 conundrum, for all to see."

So you shuffle and stutter, in this logic-defying maze,
Chasing your tail in circles, through a bureaucratic haze,
The ballot a carrot, dangled just out of reach,
A symbol of freedom, you long to breach.

You yearn to join the chorus, of the voices that decide,
But the door is slammed shut, with nowhere to hide,
For your voice, like your vote, is locked in this cage,
A prisoner of paradox, on a nonsensical stage.

So raise your fist, dear citizen, in silent protest,
To the rules that bind us, put to the test,
And pray for a day, when logic takes flight,
And the right to be heard, shines ever so bright.

For in this land of Catch-22, where reason takes a fall,
We fight for our voices, against the bureaucratic wall,
With hope in our hearts, and a satirical grin,
We'll vote for a future, where logic lets us win.

CATCH-22 SITUATION: You need to be a citizen to vote, but you can't become a citizen without voting.
LINE COUNT: 28 Lines
WRITTEN FOR: "The Writer's Cramp"  | "WINNER and NEW PROMPT - Due Friday, Jan 26"  
PROMPT:
write a story or poem about a protagonist caught in a "catch-22" situation. (Examples: trying to get a change of address; trying to get an identity document; proving to someone that you love (or don't love) them; proving (or disproving) a theory, etc.)

One of your genres should be SATIRE -- your work should highlight the absurdity of a particular institution or situation.