Elizabeth

I read a version of Little Red Riding Hood
that gave the girl a name, Elizabeth.
Here was a girl with a name, dirty
fingernails, and knots in her hair,
and she sat at my table now drinking
a cup of tea while I felt like the bad
uncle who never kept up and didn't
ask questions about Grandmother.
She said "please" and "thank you"
too much and asked for blackberry tea.
While she ate her cake I looked
at the old book of fairy tales I kept
just in case and found her there
with no name but Red Riding Hood.
When she finished I poured the tea
in the sink, picked up the phone and called
Elizabeth's mother to come get her.