This is for those who called their children Louise
after the nurse’s aide because they forgot
the names of their children.
This is for those whose children stopped visiting
after they forgot their names and called them Louise.
This is for those who languished alone after their children
stopped visiting because they called them Louise.
This is for those who lamented their loneliness
and languished alone after their children stopped visiting.
This is for those who refused to eat,
lamented their loneliness and languished alone.
This is for those who held the hand of Louise.
This is for Louise who held all their hands.
Elizabeth Rose’s essays have appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic, the Boston Globe, New Mexico Review, The Worcester Journal and Escape, a collection of short memoir pieces edited by The Pathfinders Collective. Her poetry is forthcoming in Verdad and BarBar literary online magazines. She received her MFA in Creative Non-Fiction in 2019 from Lesley University. In 2020 she authored a chapter in Today’s Wonder Women: Everyday Superheroes Who Are Changing the World, by Asha Dahya. She has a psychotherapy practice and organizes the Rubbish to Runway in Massachusetts where she lives.
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