Two Tanka (for my parents)

My Mother's Death:

In the end, if she
was not oblivious, my
mother's saboteur
steeped her in dementia
making death more like a cure.

The Embrace With My Father That Never Came:

We hugged, me at ten,
when his mother died; then years,
my ire, and our pride
split us so that his passing
deterred us from another.