I wanted to help my father

finish the book-

     I could see he was thinking of a title

by the door light
of an appliance.

-

later

     my mother admitted it was not unusual to find a carton of milk in the dryer.

-
  
illness:

he began to speak of his favorite tree
which appeared only at night
when he spoke of it.

-  

also later:  he was reading, not writing, that book.