to be finished

the machine is strong.
serves you well.
relentless.
the arms and legs,
the heart.
they move and move,
you are a shark
in water, endlessly
swimming
through your work.
you ignore the lights
blinking,
the siren,
the slow
dull beep of an ache.
a knee,
a joint, the pounding
of veins.
the machine keeps going.
you throw coal
into the fire.
you roar through
the hours.
through the months,
the years.
the machine sees no end.
no gold watch,
no beach house,
no white sand.
the machine knows better.
the work,
the doing means everything.
everything.
to stop is to be finished.