Simply, the Daughter

Last night, 
I went to sleep
while watching TV. 

Mama came 
and told me 
to “Go to bed.”

My simple response was “Okay”, 
but the moment reminded me 
of other times, so many other times,
when she or Daddy did the same. 

Long gone are the days
when I denied reality
by saying, “I’m not sleep"
and we chuckled.

It felt so good, 
in the moment, 
to be simply the daughter 
as dementia sought 
to forever alter
the mother-daughter dance.