Syd Zester: Run Wild and Be Poetry

SLOWER INTENTIONS

waking up with wildflowers in skinny alpine air. coffee mornings sipping outside and in bed. dusk runs that go into dark. evenings at home with the windows open and scratch made pasta sauce simmering. running fast to feel wild & alive on-a-whim road trips to do her long run next to the ocean with salty air spraying her skin & smiling when she tracks sand into the car

OCCASIONAL BUTT WRINKLE

dear me / body

i love you. your curves, cracks crevices & cartilage carry me, run me house & home me. all you ask for in return Is for me to consume lots of water & veggies and for me to stop mumbling ew gross when i see a mark that says i lived my life

MIND YA DAMN BUSINESS

feel free to judge her body what’s in it / on it /who’s seen it just pass up on loving the 1000s

of miles it carried her over mountain passes & through damp city streets, fending off yells and heckles from heartless men in car seats. they won’t hear her

heart that beats & breaks for all the hers/shes/me’s crying for justice & equity.

miss out on her soft edges, sweetly carved by bites of chocolate cake shared with her forever pal on cold winter nights. so know they can judge & shame her but, she has the right to what’s left of her body after the world has fought to bend & break & change her.

GROUNDING

the best part of today was feeling like she ran home out In wild, open spaces

LOVE

the run made space in her heart, sat down & never left

About the Writer:

Syd Zester is a North Carolina-based writer, runner, and advocate. During the day she works in communications in the outdoor industry and at night she’s going for runs with her best pal, her husband. Long runs, big mountains, challenging conversations, and hot coffee fill her up. If you want to see more of her work and get updates on her book (coming out in March!) check out her Instagram or her website.