A Choice Of Absent Government

I was chatting with a friend recently,
and explained that I might be absent
from them for a while-the government
had some forms that it needed me to fill in,
and further, it might well want
to interview me at some length.

My friend replied 
'You do know the government is in chaos?'.
It was only later the same day that I realized
that I didn't know which arm of government he meant.
All government, national, regional, and local,
are presently in a state of prolonged semi-collapse
with no sign of a return to a sense of direction in sight.
.
The civil service are what has always held the country together.