Emma Shi
how to reinstall your heart
turn on your heart.
after your heartbeat begins, hold your hands together. if your hands start shaking, breathe out slowly with your eyes closed. pretend you are by the ocean. pretend there is a star somewhere on the surface of the water and that it bleeds liquid light.
release your hands when you feel your eyes start to open. at first, it will hurt because you will have to realign your left eye to your right eye. you might see a prism, or just broken glass. the true colour could take a while longer; it all depends on the layers in your cornea.
when prompted, connect your heart to your lungs with a vessel. as long as you keep on breathing, the oxygen will start pumping through. if you put your hand to your throat, you will able to feel little bursts travelling up and pressing against your skin. these bursts are called breaths and they will not hurt you anymore. you might start crying; it is normal to not know why.
after the red blood cells appear, select the option to install your heart. you will know you are ready when you can see your veins again. you must check both your wrists in case your old veins are too faulty to reboot. once you have confirmed that there is colour on both, you may begin.
follow the rhythm of your breathing to select the chambers in your heart and install. select the right atrium first, then the left. it is recommended to do this slowly since it is possible for old memories to resurface. your eyesight will sharpen and you will see rings of clouds in the sky and a blue so bright it might make your heart sore. if this happens, lie on your back on green grass till the horizon becomes a perfect circle. then just keep on breathing.
Emma Shi is currently studying Classics and English at Victoria University of Wellington. She was the winner of the National Schools Poetry Award 2013 and her work has been published in Landfall and Poetry NZ.