There's a frenzy around ID cards
when you're fifteen
an excitement like trapping bees in an airtight jar
which cannot be replicated as an adult
although the behavior is the same:
     Criticize the picture
     Berate oneself for being
     A human with height and width and coloration

Then there's the barber shop mirror replication of self
the meta-selfie of taking a picture of one's ID
and posting to
     everything . . . ever
so you have a sounding board for your self-aggrandizement
     enrobed in self-deprecation like
     a chocolate-dipped madeleine
which will inherently lead to a
knitted afghan of praise and adoration
which was entirely the point

Then there's the dismissal
the abandonment into a wallet
from which it will never escape
living out lifetimes ad infinitum in vain
never recognizing the worth of

Your student ID
113809

which identifies you
but is not you because

You could never be so two-dimensional