fading away

you wished,
despite how miserable
they would be, that
your parents would reunite
at some point.
put the guns
and knives away.
take the arrows out
their hands
and unstring the taut
bows about
to fire.
you wished they'd make
love.
and laugh again.
hold hands,
be friends once more,
raising their
children
together.
hanging lights on
Christmas trees. it would
have made life
easier for everyone,
especially now,
as they slip slowly away,
alone within
themselves.