How to Wheel
By Karl Knights
The zoo is tough terrain; hilly.
I wheel as fast as I can –
then mum shouts ‘keep up!’
I stop. ‘Hand me my crutches.’
I shakily get up; take off my splints
strap by strap, and put them on her.
I sit her in the chair. ‘You have a go.’
At first, she spins in circles.
‘No,’ I say. ‘Use both arms in unison.’
She still veers away, zigzagging, sweating now.
People start to stare. She blushes,
keeps her head down. After ten minutes
she’s heaving, shirt drenched.
I swing over to her.
Image Credit: Thom Bartley.
Karl, a white man with short brown hair and glasses, is standing in front of a microphone. He's wearing a long sleeved, chequered shirt. He is smiling, and holding a book in his hands.
Karl Knights is an autistic writer with cerebral palsy. His poetry and prose has appeared in The Guardian, The Dark Horse, Under the Radar, and The North. He is twenty-three and lives in Suffolk, England.