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 .