I have built a machine    from the scraps of my body.   Built it strong. Built it mean.   Built to last for centuries.   I grew tired. I grew weak.   Watched my skin stop fitting me.   Watched my hands freeze up in cold.   I grew tired of getting old.   I grew tired of broken bones.   Traded syllables for stone.   Traded oxygen for life.   I was scared, too scared to die.   Time has claws. Time has eyes,   staring down and breathing fire.   Suck in air. Swallow hard    like the vulture that you are.