Eleven Years

He gets confused sometimes—gets up, walks a few steps,         –pauses– looks blankly ahead     then turns around,          sits back down                     slowly. The doctor says it’s dementia;it’s just the beginning, really. It’s in his eyes, though:     everything.           He’s not forgotten     anything; I’ve not, either—     not the way he sat    with me quietly    through the years: my parents’ divorce,     failuresin efforts that could’ve…