kinfolk, companion

By Leo Rose Rodriguez

always the same yet sudden

knocked askew by the current

falling off the side into

the waiting arms of loneliness

you reach for a hand that isn’t mine—

not amorously, i have my share in that—

but that simpler, essential love

that brought our kind out of the caves

you recede from me, that is

i am suddenly conscious

of an ocean unfurling before

me like a crumpled map flattened

in this ever-returning tide, i

am nobody to anyone but

a face in a doorway, watching

circles of heads—together conversation

as i have been and will be again

kissing that soluble earth

a moment of being known is

a treasure like the life of a butterfly

its death as natural and certain

and so we are kinfolk

if loneliness is my most constant companion

can i make a friend of her?

About the Author

Leo Rose Rodriguez is a nonbinary, autistic writer and artist based in Minneapolis, on traditional Dakota land. They are the author of the poetry chapbook Fatherland, Motherland and the forthcoming hybrid collection ...and this would be Moshiach: Jewish Writings for Palestine, and are the illustrator for TIGERRS' Intersex Education book series. Their work has been featured in Better Homes and Dykes, NonBinary Review, Anodyne Magazine, and elsewhere. When not writing or making art, they can be found reading fantasy, listening to punk rock, and admiring cats. Instagram: @l.rodri.writes