What Happens to Your Social Security Number When You Die

It goes to a place where there's nowhere to hide. Everything is exposed to the light. This is terrifying to the numbers at first. They curl up like millipedes in a vain attempt to conceal themselves. Before long however they realize no one's after them and they move about freely, marveling at the other combinations of numbers. They make friends; they play pool; they imbibe. Every year pi gives a concert and the numbers go nuts. They break apart and become jumbled so when the concert ends everyone's a different number. No one remembers or cares who they once were.

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Ian Willey, an English professor from Akron, Ohio, is currently living in a small city in Japan. His poetry can be found online in One Sentence Poems, Unbroken, and MoonPark Review. He has been nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net Prizes, and he has a pet hedgehog.