Poetry: Kinkeep

In the family of things, I have been
wayward, shoes untied, chaos-muppet,
a smear of peanut butter on the corner
of everything, singing for myself
mid church service, full operatic voice.
In the family of things, I am both holy
and terror. It goes before me.
In the family of things, I remember
to keep the porch light on for you.
In the family of things, I am prodigal;
I dream of coming home on
feast days, but I linger: in door ways,
inside the treeline, in my coat
and smell the warm devotion waft
over the distance between us.
Olivia Dudding Rodriguez is an Appalachian poet and storyteller who makes her home in Eastern Utah. “Kinkeep” appears in her new chapbook “Honey Wonder,” published by Moon in the Rye press.
This story appears in the September 2024 issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe.