I was outside today, running

 

1 bright sun
50-something degrees Fahrenheit
1 husband taking care of our kids

4 hours' worth of music in a playlist he created for me ("the world was mine today")

1 bottle of electrolyte water
countless trees

1 neighbor I know and adore running past me in the opposite direction

other people walking or running -- some with a friend or a stroller or a dog

4 soda cans left on the ground

1 faded "I VOTED" sticker among some leaves

1 church sign saying "some have to do lists, others have to be lists"

1 camera in my small purse

over 12 miles traveled

1 body to challenge and appreciate
2 nourishing hours alone to think and feel and love life

untitled human haiku*

wearing an iPod,
Army PT clothes, brown hair,
but he is not you.

{by manda, may 3, 2009}

* often called senryu -- see this and this

i am

failing to grab the lemon pepper
and questioned by a six year old . . .
jumping for the olive oil . . .
opening the step stool again . . .
about seven inches below him . . .

short.

{poem by manda, april 2, 2009}