Bleeding Heart, by Ania B. Owczarczyk.

Stiff heart. Struggling heart.
Strong heart. Stopped heart.
Student heart.
Teaching heart, listening.

First heart, stiffened heart.
Beating heart, full of
Muscle, protein, scars. Too full to fill.
First heart, full heart, failing.

Second heart, struggling heart.
Sloshy heart, squeezing,
Pounded by a piston-trunk of blood.
Second heart, beaten down slowly.

Third heart, thriving heart.
Thumping heart, thrumming
Blood sweeps round the curve and up the arch.
Third heart, strong heart, racing.

Fourth heart, flattened heart.
Fine, then fibrillating.
One long moment between man and corpse.
Fourth heart, shocked heart, stopped heart.

Fifth heart, student heart.
Teaching heart, listening,
Stethoscope against the student’s chest.
Eyes closed. Steady heart sounds.