It started as a normal day.
I put on my boots, kissed the wife goodbye.
I got in my car and drove away.
Not knowing this would be the day I’d die.

I clocked in right on time.
Got my tools, whistling through a smile,
Never knowing the fate that was mine,
Digging for metal through the scrap pile.

I walked to the crusher and opened the jaws
Never thinking to check for a hydraulic leak.
This was my hamartia, my fatal flaw.
As the jaws began to close, they did not creak or squeak.

Still the day carried on
And the jaws continued to close.
In a few hours I’d be gone,
I’m all alone, so no one knows.

I turned around and realized to late
The closing jaws had sealed me in.
In this moment, I knew my fate
And began to count my sins.

Things I forgot and things I regret.
Memories, birthdays, good and bad times, promises, lies.
Every single person I’d ever met.
My whole life played like a movie before my eyes.

As my life came to an end
And I faced my imminent death,
I had goodbye to send,
And so with my final breath,

I whispered, “I love--“