Poetry & Art

MIND YA DAMN BUSINESS

by Sydney Zester • October 12, 2019

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.

Comment

by Sydney Zester

Syd is a poet, artist, & runner living in the pine forests of North Carolina with her husband and their dog. She believes in love, equity, long runs up big hills, and girl power.

As a huge consumer of our outdoors she believes in cultivating conversation around protection, conservation, movement, and women within our mountains, deserts, and oceans. She is driven to create a space where stories about running, outdoors, activism, and creation could be shared from the lens of a gal.

Her painting and poetry are inspired by her long distance, endurance running practice. Sensory memory and wild color consistently show up in her work.

Website