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      August 12, 2023The Old Green ReclinerLily Karpman

      I miss the old green recliner
      The smell of fried chicken as I opened the door to my dad’s car
      The sound of him cooking in the kitchen
      Waiting to ask him something until after he mowed the lawn
      Throwing a football with him in the backyard
      I miss how cool I thought he was when he worked at Wegmans
      Going on hikes as a family
      Having him chase me and my brother around the house
      Him coming upstairs at night to tuck me in
      Cooking a meal for him and my mom to have a date night
      I don’t like our new recliner
      That helps my dad stand up
      So he can get in his wheelchair
      And drive himself around the ground floor
      Waiting for my mom to help him back in the chair
      I don’t like our new van
      That’s wheelchair accessible
      So my dad can drive down our ramp sidewalk
      And ride in his wheelchair to my soccer games
      Which are the only times he gets out of the house
      I wish it wasn’t like this
      That my mom wasn’t so stressed
      Because she has to help him
      Which takes up so much time
      That she has to work late into the night
      I wish I didn’t have to think about it
      But every time I go into our living room
      He’s in the recliner
      With the wheelchair across from him
      Watching TV
      And he isn’t walking around the kitchen cooking like he used to
      He isn’t picking us up after school with a big box of Royal Farms for us to eat when we get home
      He doesn’t mow the lawn anymore
      He isn’t throwing a long ball to me in the backyard
      Because he can’t
      We don’t still hike as a family
      We don’t still cook for our parents’ date night in the backyard
      We don’t still wait for dad to give us a good night kiss after mom tucks us in
      And we don’t still have our old green recliner

      from 2023 RYPA

      Lily Karpman (age 13)

      Why do you like to write poetry?

      “I am not a person who verbally expresses their feelings a lot but through poetry I can express exactly how I feel. It is much easier to give the pure feeling through poetry instead of verbally because poetry can be anything. Graceful or sharp, sweet or bitter, the words of every line in every stanza can perfectly express a feeling. So that is why I like writing poetry: it helps me express a feeling at its purest form.”

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