by Ellen McHugh

who I often fear are 
not too fond of—  Someone 
mentions validation, how we all
need this—our names heard—to just 
say hello when someone enters 
or walks through.  

                        But today I want 

to tell them I want 
to go— settle somewhere . . . not 
to miss me.  And the hat 
is the truth—"the hat” is actually
an autocorrect for “that” 
& well-timed comic relief.  

                        But the truth is we sometimes feel 

we are seldom missed & less 
seldom, sorely missed.  We can all be 
such wasters of gifts.  So let tears
be allowed when tears
are shed.  The story of the prodigal 
returning, for instance, 
who can resist it?—& all the love 
that’s in us 
                        in whatever shape 
                        of love we’re in.  

---

Ellen McHugh is a retired nurse and former adjunct instructor of English Composition at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio where she also served on the editorial staff of the school’s online literary journal, the Chagrin River Review. She holds an MA in English from Cleveland State University. Several of her poems have appeared in Cleveland State’s Whiskey Island and Litbreak magazines. Currently, Ellen is retired from work but not from life. She enjoys sketching, mulching, helping out in her community, and meeting up once monthly with the Church Ladies. She and her husband of 40 some years have three daughters and three grandchildren—each one, a blessing.