Wheeled – a poem for International Wheelchair Day

Image: a picture of me (white, young adult) in my black electric wheelchair, driving rapidly against a blurred background of bushes. The picture is black and white. On the left, there is a semi-transparent white background overlaid on the background. The text placed over that reads: "Wheeled
I am wheeled. My weight
in legs as flesh made solid as
half dead and half
alive as weakness but I.

I – my movement joy. My
leap up jagged kerbs. My
speed. I trail people; walking –
half running. Failing to
catch me.

I keep going. I; after your hours
and blisters my battery runs
I speed. I swerve. I keep
on going. I keep on going.

I am wheeled. My movement
joy. My pace. My sleek metal
my rapid-fingered course-correction

Dance. Dance and run. Find joy
in every rolling motion. In every
single movement where flesh
meets metal and wheels; as if
my blood runs through each joint."
Ben Gilbert // Wellcome Collection

Wheeled

I am wheeled. My weight
in legs as flesh made solid as
half dead and half
alive as weakness but I.

I – my movement joy. My
leap up jagged kerbs. My
speed. I trail people; walking –
half running. Failing to
catch me.

I keep going. I; after your hours
and blisters my battery runs
I speed. I swerve. I keep
on going. I keep on going.

I am wheeled. My movement
joy. My pace. My sleek metal
my rapid-fingered course-correction

Dance. Dance and run. Find joy
in every rolling motion. In every
single movement where flesh
meets metal and wheels; as if
my blood runs through each joint.

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