Lessons from an involuntary muscle tissue

Today in anatomy lab we took each other's blood pressure.
Air hissed out of the dark blue cuff that choked my arm
I felt my blood thump thump thumping
as my heart forced it back through my artery
and down towards my hand again.

My heart will always have to beat.
This makes me want to lie down
curl up in a ball
and quit breathing or something.
Give my heart a vacation
Let it have a little rest so it doesn't wear itself out.

So I apologized to my heart
saying I'm sorry you have to spend every second of your day
slaving away for me
but there's really nothing I can do to lend a hand.
And my heart just kept on pumping and said

You don't always need to be the one in control.