Labor Lecture

My hands are cracked and dry...
sweat cascades down my face like tears,
my eyes hanging low, drooping with tiredness,
and pain echoes across my eyes,
so sore and sleepy...
I have been staring, concentrating for so long
on the task not yet completed...
But completed so many times before,
completed again, and again,
the same thing
over, and over again.
Something scratches my hand
like sharp pebble,
I take no notice...
it is only a scratch. My hands are
already
cracked, dry,
wasted.
They've no use
but for work.
The same thing,
over and over again.
The hot, stuffy air brushes
my face. I inhale stiffly...
the air smells of stale sweat and pain and sadness.
I keep working....Just a few more hours.
Over, and over again.